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Kaul Appeals Order from Waukesha County Judge
As expected, Wisconsin’s attorney general is continuing his fight against the effort to make sure only U.S. citizens are voting in elections in the state.
Attorney General Josh Kaul on Monday filed an appeal to the ruling from a Waukesha County judge who ordered the Wisconsin Elections Commission to cross-check the state’s voter rolls with the DMV’s list of non-citizen driver’s license holders.
"The circuit court’s decision and order drastically alters voter registration and elections in Wisconsin, violates state law, and threatens voting rights," Kaul wrote in his appeal.
Kaul immediately asked to halt the ruling from the judge, arguing that it would take the Elections Commission months to get ready to cross-check its voter list with the DMV’s list. On Monday, Kaul offered a different argument.
“Wisconsin law does not require proof of citizenship to register to vote. The Commission therefore has no duty — or even authority — to impose it," Kaul added.
He also challenged the lawsuit, saying the two voters who brought the case, didn’t prove that non-citizens have voted in Wisconsin.
“[They] also demonstrated no substantial injury, offering only speculation regarding the risk of vote dilution,” Kaul argued.
The judge said the Elections Commission was breaking both state and federal law “by maintaining an election system that potentially allows individuals onto the voter rolls who may not be lawfully entitled to cast a vote in Wisconsin."
Kaul said the judge “misread” the law.
Wisconsin law says voters must “attest” that they are citizens, but there’s nothing specifically written into the law that says election managers have to ask for proof.
The judge originally ordered the Elections Commission to finish its cross-check by February, ahead of the spring primary. But it remains to be seen what Kaul’s appeal will mean for that timeline.
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