A loophole in Wisconsin election laws poses a significant risk to election integrity, a report finds.
More than 140,000 Wisconsinites can vote in the 2024 election without proving their identify by self-identifying as “Indefinitely Confined,” a new report by the Wisconsin Institute for Law & Liberty reveals. Through the loophole, voters can receive an absentee ballot indefinitely without ever showing an ID.
The “Indefinitely Confined” exception has skyrocketed since 2016, when approximately 66,000 voters registered under the status. In 2020 amid the pandemic, 265,979 registered under the exemption, when clerks in Democratic strongholds encouraged voters to exploit the loophole to circumvent Wisconsin’s voter ID requirements in 2020 – a practice later rebuked unanimously by the Supreme Court.
Joe Biden defeated Donald Trump in the state by just over 20,000 votes, in a swing of around 48,000 votes to Democrats from the 2016 election when Trump carried the state.
“Confidence in our elections continues to be dangerously low in Wisconsin and across the country,” WILL Research Director Will Flanders said in a statement. “Voter ID is a popular and well-executed way to keep our elections secure and free of fraud. While the Governor refused to fix this loophole in the years since 2020, efforts must be made by local election clerks to resolve it as much as possible.”
Wisconsin voter ID laws require citizens to show ID to vote in most circumstances. However, ID is not required simply to register to vote.
The “Indefinitely Confined” exception provides a loophole for potential voters to avoid ever showing an ID.
“The indefinitely confined status was designed to provide those who are elderly, sick, or physically unable to get to the polls with an opportunity to vote,” WILL Policy Director Kyle Koenen added. “Although designed with good intentions, as our report shows, the system has a few key flaws that should be resolved.”
State laws require the removal of voters from the indefinitely confined list under specified circumstances. According to WILL, “if a voter does not return an absentee ballot after receiving one, the municipal clerk must notify them that they will be removed from the absentee mailing list unless they renew their application within 30 days. Voters can also be removed upon their request or if reliable information indicates they are no longer eligible, such as when a voter casts a ballot in person.”
However, not all counties comply with state law, WILL alleges. The number of voters using the exemption remains about 144,347.
Polls show Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris neck-and-neck in Wisconsin less than two months from Election Day.
Bradley Jaye is a Capitol Hill Correspondent for Breitbart News. Follow him on X/Twitter at @BradleyAJaye.
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