Frederica Freyberg:

A counter suit and an appeal came quickly following last week’s ruling by an Ozaukee County Circuit Court that more than 200,000 registered voters flagged as having changed address should be immediately deactivated from Wisconsin voter lists. The Ozaukee ruling came in response to a lawsuit filed by a conservative group that challenged the Wisconsin Elections Commission decision to allow those who may have moved to be able to stay on the active rolls through April 2021. That suit cited a state statute that requires deactivation 30 days after such voters get a mailed notice saying records show they may have changed address and the circuit court agreed. That leaves Democrats crying foul, including the governor saying Republicans are trying to suppress votes. Republicans worry about voter fraud. But where does all this stand tonight on the cusp of a presidential election, where Wisconsin is pivotal? We turn to the administrator of the Elections Commission, Meagan Wolfe. Thanks very much for being here.

Meagan Wolfe:

Thanks for having me.

Frederica Freyberg:

I just wonder, is the court’s ruling to immediately purge the voters in limbo now because of the appeal to the higher court?

Meagan Wolfe:

Currently there is an appeal and we’re waiting to see what the judge decides in terms of a stay of the current order before the commission decides on further action.

Frederica Freyberg:

And so right now, tonight, those voters remain on the active list.

Meagan Wolfe:

That’s correct.

Frederica Freyberg:

How fractious is this situation given that the Elections Commission is deadlocked on party lines over how to proceed after the ruling?

Meagan Wolfe:

So the oversight board for the Wisconsin Elections Commission is that six-member, bipartisan commission that provides us with guidance and decision-making for the commission. So there’s bound to be some differences from time to time. But I think it’s important to note that the decisions for the movers list, the process that was implemented, those votes were largely unanimous and any changes and sort of differences have really been in results to the direction of litigation recently.

Frederica Freyberg:

So why did the commission originally want to give these voters who changed address until 2021 before they were deactivated?

Meagan Wolfe:

The purpose of ERIC is really to determine if someone is properly registered at the correct address or if they’re eligible to be registered but they’re not yet to give them that information. So the decision was made to make sure that voters again had that opportunity to get registered at the correct address. When we’re looking at ERIC data sets, what ERIC does is it makes a report that determines differences between the state voter rolls and databases like DMV’s or the postal service and then it’s our job to determine how to educate voters about how if they may have moved, they might need to update their address.

Frederica Freyberg:

Tell our viewers what does ERIC stands for please?

Meagan Wolfe:

Sure, so ERIC is the Electronic Registration Information Center.

Frederica Freyberg:

That’s where this information comes from that tells the commission that these voters might have moved.

Meagan Wolfe:

Correct. It compares voter lists within our state as well as across the country to again determine if there are voters that are eligible to be registered to vote but currently aren’t so we can educate them or voters that may have moved and need to register at a new address.

Frederica Freyberg:

What about that statute, that state statute, that says that such movers must be purged within 30 days of this written notice?

Meagan Wolfe:

So the current law says that the state of Wisconsin must join the ERIC organization and must abide by the ERIC agreement, but it is not specific in terms of what happens with that data set. We’re just required by the ERIC agreement to make contact with at least 95% of the voters that are on the list for the movers, but it’s not specific. There are other places in statute that talk about this maintenance. Four-year maintenance, for example. So voters who have not participated in an election for four years, the statute does require for those voters that we send them a notice letting them know they haven’t participated in four years. And then if we don’t hear from them within 30 days, their record is deactivated. But that’s a separate set of laws.

Frederica Freyberg:

Do you think deactivating these voters if that happens following all these courts will suppress votes?

Meagan Wolfe:

Here in the state of Wisconsin we have same-day voter registration. So I think regardless of where the decision heads that the most important thing for voters to know, the biggest take-away or action item for them, is to know your registration status and make sure you’re registered to vote at the correct place. So any voter that’s wondering where they’re currently registered to vote or what their status is can go to myvote.wi.gov and check their voter status. If they see that their address is out of date, they’ll have an opportunity to register online. And then of course, you can also register at the polls on Election Day here in Wisconsin. Just make sure you’re ready, that you’re prepared and that you have a proof of residence document. So something like a utility bill, maybe your driver’s license that has your current name and your current address on it and you’ll be able to cast a ballot.

Frederica Freyberg:

Are more of the people on the change of address list democratic voters?

Meagan Wolfe:

We don’t track party here in the state of Wisconsin, so you don’t register as a party, so we have no way of knowing who those voters are.

Frederica Freyberg:

And yet more of those voters come from larger cities, like Madison and Milwaukee. Is that accurate?

Meagan Wolfe:

The largest places with a larger population are going to have more voters on the list. Also places that maybe have a more transient population, so people that move around might be on that list more frequently.

Frederica Freyberg:

Do you feel as though leaving them active encourages fraud?

Meagan Wolfe:

So we also have a photo ID law here in the state of Wisconsin, which means that any voter that shows up to vote on Election Day has to prove who they are. When you’re registering to vote, you’re proving where you live. When you show up to cast your ballot, you state your name and your address publicly and then you show that photo ID to prove who you are before you can cast a ballot. So even those voters if they have moved and they’re still on the poll list, they’re still going to be asked to affirm that they currently live at that address. If they have moved, the poll worker will direct them to reregister at their current address to be sure that they’re voting in the correct election.

Frederica Freyberg:

Meagan Wolfe, thanks very much.

Meagan Wolfe:

Thank you.