By BENJAMIN YOUNT
THE CENTER SQUARE CONTRIBUTOR
(The Center Square) — Nearly 180,000 people in Wisconsin will soon get a postcard asking them to register to vote, but one Republican lawmaker wants more information about the people on that list.
The Wisconsin Elections Commission will mail what it is calling Eligible but Unregistered postcards on Friday.
“Approximately 178,500 postcards (are) going to prospective voters,” WEC said in its latest newsletter. “The Elections Commission is required to contact individuals who meet voter eligibility requirements but who are not registered.”
The postcards include information on how to register to vote for both the August primary election and the November general election.
Rep. Janel Brandtjen, R-Menomonee Falls, said Tuesday that the list comes from Wisconsin’s membership in the Electronic Registration Information Center. But she’s not comfortable with how that membership is working out.
“The Elections Commission WEC uses ERIC to provide names and addresses of ‘unregistered voters.’ But the commission hides behind the private ERIC contract to determine who, and where they are getting this information,” Rep. Brandtjen explained.
Rep. Brandtjen said ERIC and/or the commission should have to tell voters and lawmakers just where they are getting the information.
“Wisconsin’s voter rolls and the WIsVOTE system have become a concern like other states, as WEC uses a private contractor to add and subtract voters without oversight,” Rep. Brandtjen said. “Only WEC and clerks have the ability to change voters from active to inactive.”
WEC has been clear for years that it will only switch voters from active to inactive after several attempts to contact voters, and several years without any voting history. No one in Wisconsin is ever truly dropped from the state’s voter rolls.
The Eligible but Unregistered postcards are due to be mailed this week. Voters have until July 20 to register to vote online or through the mail. Voters in Wisconsin can always register to vote at the polls on Election Day.
