The News: The U.S. Department of Justice has filed a lawsuit against the Wisconsin Election Commission’s (WEC) for refusing to comply with their investigation into the state’s voter rolls. The request from USDOJ was for a copy of Wisconsin’s computerized registration list including information necessary to audit the list for ineligible voters, including driver’s license number and/or the last 4 digits of the social security number. The lawsuit also comes after an investigation from our organization released earlier this year.
WILL’s findings identified serious concerns regarding WEC’s maintenance of Wisconsin’s statewide voter registration list. More specifically, we showed that over 41,000 voter registration records cannot be reconciled with the data maintained by the Wisconsin Department of Transportation (DOT). While this does not necessarily indicate widespread voter fraud, the issues are far too extensive for WEC to continue to ignore.
The Quote: WILL Deputy Counsel, Lucas Vebber, stated, “We have repeatedly stated throughout the summer that WEC’s response to questions from the DOJ, Wisconsin Legislature, and WILL have been inadequate. Make no mistake, voting record errors have only grown since 2020, and WEC has done little to nothing to reassure the public that it’s doing its job.”
Issues WILL Already Found:
WEC Fails to Detail “Separate Process” for Paper Voter Registrations: WEC confirmed that online registrations are blocked if information, such as a voter’s name, date of birth, license number, or residency, does not match DOT records. WEC vaguely refers to a “separate process” for paper registrations, including same-day registration, but has not described this process since being asked to do so by USDOJ.
Growing Mismatches Between Voter Records and DOT Database: Data obtained by WILL shows that the number of voter registration records that do not match DOT information has only increased since 2021 (the numbers in red are the numbers from 2021):
- Name and DOB Does Not Match 680 (274)
- Name Does Not Match 24,733 (15,260)
- DOB Does Not Match 3,110 (1,061)
- No Record of DL Number 11,174 (4,885)
- Invalid Data Submitted 18 (66)
- No Matches Found 2,069 (1,815)
Repeated Communication from WILL and DOJ: Earlier this year, the USDOJ sent a letter to WEC regarding its compliance with federal voter list maintenance laws. WEC’s response was short and incomplete. As part of that response, WEC outlined a review process for online voter applications and how they match a voter’s registration information with DOT records. However, for paper (mail or in-person) voter applications, WEC vaguely refers to a “separate process” for confirming the validity of those applications—without further explanation. In August, WILL sent a follow-up letter to the USDOJ calling for a detailed explanation of this “separate process,” and then sent an additional letter in October calling further attention to this matter based on new findings. WEC provided no additional answers and in December voted to refuse USDOJ access to Wisconsin’s voter rolls.
WILL’s Nationally Recognized Work on Election Integrity: WILL has received national recognition for our work on election integrity, and our comprehensive report assessing the 2020 Presidential Election has been cited by media outlets, as well as by election experts from across the country. The WSJ called WILL’s work the best—and most comprehensive—look at the 2020 Presidential Election.
Read More:
- WILL Follow-Up Letter Highlighting New Findings, October 2025
- Our Original Letter to USDOJ, August 2025
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