In the News

By Jessie Opoien

Wisconsin's Congressional Democrats are urging the state's elections commission not to share voters' personal information with the federal government, citing privacy concerns.

"The request exposes the private information of the Wisconsin electorate to the potential of being compromised in order to prove the baseless claim of President Trump that millions of people cast illegal in-person ballots," read a letter written by Rep. Gwen Moore and signed by Reps. Mark Pocan and Ron Kind.

The letter was sent to the Wisconsin Elections Commission and Secretary of State Doug La Follette.

Last month, President Donald Trump's Advisory Commission on Election Integrity requested data from all 50 states including registered voters' names, voting history, political party affiliations, addresses, birth dates and the last four digits of their Social Security numbers.

Trump has claimed without evidence that millions of fraudulent votes were cast in the November 2016 election and in others before it. The commission, led by Vice President Mike Pence and Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach, was formed to investigate those claims.

The commission met for the first time on Wednesday.

Wisconsin Elections Commission chairman Michael Haas has said the state will wait to respond to the request until a federal judge rules on the legality of it.

Most of the information in Wisconsin's voter registration system is available for purchase by the public under state law. Anyone who pays for the data can view a voter's name, address and voting history. The state does not collect information about a voter's gender or political preference.

Confidential information including a voter's date of birth, driver's license or Social Security number is not shared with others, with limited exceptions for law enforcement agencies. The presidential commission "does not appear to qualify" for an exception, Haas said in response to the initial request.

The cost to obtain the entire statewide voter file is $12,500.
The lawmakers argued Wisconsin should not even partially comply with the request, citing reports from the U.S. intelligence community that Russia attempted to interfere with the 2016 presidential election. Sharing any information would expose the Wisconsin electorate to "significant, irreparable harm," she wrote.

The data being requested, according to court filings, will be stored on White House servers.

"Given these facts, I find it reckless to increase voter data vulnerability by facilitating the Commission’s request," Moore wrote.

But the state may not have a choice.

"The WEC does not have the discretion to deny a request for the public information in the voter registration database if the required fee is paid," Haas said in a statement.

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