Wisconsin Non-Citizen Voting Challenges Come Down to Oath

Wisconsin’s elections administrator is, once again, saying that it is up to local poll workers to stop non-citizens from voting on Election Day in Wisconsin.

Elections Commission Administrator Meagan Wolfe told reporters on Monday that Wisconsin law is very clear about who, and how someone can challenge a non-citizen at the polls. But Wisconsin law does allow some people with non-citizen driver’s licenses to vote in some situations.

“If a poll worker initiates a challenge against a voter based on reliable information about their eligibility, then the next step that the statute lays out is that the poll worker is going to start the challenge, fill out the challenge paperwork, and then initiate the oath,” Wolfe explained. “If a voter completes the oath and you know fulfills all the requirements of the challenge then their ballot can proceed to be counted.”

That oath is simply “You do solemnly swear (or affirm) that you will fully and truly answer all questions put to you regarding the challenged person's place of residence and qualifications as an elector of this election."

Wolfe and the Elections Commission are clarifying the rules for non-citizen voting in Wisconsin after a memo last week explained that non-citizen driver’s licenses are considered valid voter ID in the state.

“According to the DMV, identifications marked ‘Limited Term’ indicate ‘that the license or ID card holder is a nonimmigrant (Temporary Visitor) with legal status in the United States’ and identifications marked ‘Non-Domiciled’ indicate ‘that the CDL license holder is a non-immigrant (Temporary Visitor) with legal status in the United States.’ In general, Temporary Visitors in this sense do not include lawful permanent residents (green card holders) or U.S. citizens at the time the identification card was issued. The DMV has provided these sample documents on their website to indicate what these identifications look like and where to find these designations,” The Elections Commission explained in a memo to clerks.

The memo, however, also said “the Commission does not know how many of these identifications have been issued.”

Wisconsin law lays out seven reasons why poll workers can challenge someone’s voting status:

• Not being a U.S. Citizen

• Not being 18-years-old

• Not having lived in their neighborhood for at least 10 days

• Being a felon

• Being declared incompetent or ineligible to vote

• Having made a bet on the election

• Voting for a second time.

Wolfe told clerks across the state, as well as any voters or reporters who are interested, to refer back to Elections Commission guidance at the Commission’s website for more specific answers about non-citizens and voting on Election Day.