Current:Home > NewsWisconsin Supreme Court weighs activist’s attempt to make ineligible voter names public -WealthMindset Learning
Wisconsin Supreme Court weighs activist’s attempt to make ineligible voter names public
View
Date:2025-04-20 05:28:39
MADISON, Wis. (AP) — The Wisconsin Supreme Court will hear a case Tuesday brought by a conservative activist who is seeking guardianship records in an effort to find ineligible voters.
The lawsuit tests the line between protecting personal privacy rights and ensuring that ineligible people can’t vote. And it is the latest attempt by those who questioned the outcome of the 2020 presidential race to cast doubt on the integrity of elections in the presidential swing state.
Former travel agent Ron Heuer and a group he leads, the Wisconsin Voters Alliance, allege that the number of ineligible voters doesn’t match the count on Wisconsin’s voter registration list. They want the state Supreme Court to rule that counties must release records filed when a judge determines that someone isn’t competent to vote so that those names can be compared to the voter registration list.
Heuer and the WVA filed lawsuits in 13 counties in 2022 seeking guardianship records.
A state appeals court in 2023 overturned a circuit court ruling dismissing the case and found that the records are public. It ordered Walworth County to release them with birthdates and case numbers redacted. The county appealed to the state Supreme Court, which is hearing oral arguments in the case on Tuesday.
The court, controlled by liberal justices, is unlikely to issue a ruling before the November election.
Walworth County’s attorneys argue in court filings that state law does not allow for the release of the “highly confidential information subject to privacy protections” to Heuer and the WVA.
The law is “crystal clear” that only those with a “personal and identifiable need” for the records can have access to them, they wrote.
“The WVA has not demonstrated such a need because its interests are not remotely related to the underlying guardianship proceedings,” the county attorneys argued.
The WVA’s attorney argued in court filings that the notice of voting eligibility being sought is a public record because it is “a communication to election officials regarding a person’s right to register to vote or to vote.”
Heuer and the WVA have pushed conspiracy theories about the 2020 election in an attempt to overturn President Joe Biden’s win in Wisconsin. Heuer was hired as an investigator in the discredited 2020 election probe led by former Wisconsin Supreme Court Justice Michael Gableman that found no evidence of fraud or abuse that would have changed the election results.
The WVA also filed two unsuccessful lawsuits that sought to overturn Biden’s win in Wisconsin.
Biden defeated Trump by nearly 21,000 votes in Wisconsin in 2020, a result that has withstood independent and partisan audits and reviews, as well as lawsuits and the recounts Trump requested.
veryGood! (642)
Related
- A New York Appellate Court Rejects a Broad Application of the State’s Green Amendment
- How one retired executive helped change a wounded Ukrainian soldier's life
- Blinken says he spoke to Russia's top diplomat about arrested American journalist
- This Amazon Running Jacket With 7,600+ 5-Star Reviews Is Currently On Sale
- Juan Soto to be introduced by Mets at Citi Field after striking record $765 million, 15
- The Last Thing He Told Me: Jennifer Garner Unearths Twisted Family Secrets in Thriller Trailer
- An 11-Minute Flight To Space Was Just Auctioned For $28 Million
- Paris to ban electric rental scooters after city residents overwhelmingly shun the devices in public referendum
- Sam Taylor
- This Affordable Amazon Swimsuit Is on Sale for Under $35 & Has Over 32,000 5-Star Reviews
Ranking
- American news website Axios laying off dozens of employees
- Judy Blume Forever Trailer Will Leave You Blubbering With Nostalgia
- Now It's McDonald's Turn. A Data Breach Hits The Chain In Asia
- Pope Francis to be hospitalized for several days with respiratory infection, Vatican says
- Tropical weather brings record rainfall. Experts share how to stay safe in floods.
- This Amazon Running Jacket With 7,600+ 5-Star Reviews Is Currently On Sale
- Ex-principal of Australian Jewish girls school convicted of sexually abusing students after extradition from Israel
- An Ode to Odele: The $12 Clarifying Shampoo I Swear By
Recommendation
Bodycam footage shows high
Angela Bassett, Hilary Duff and More Stars Share How They're Raising Strong Daughters
Pope Francis leaves hospital; Still alive, he quips
Local groups work to give Ukrainian women soldiers uniforms that fit
Behind on your annual reading goal? Books under 200 pages to read before 2024 ends
El Salvador Plans To Use Electricity Generated From Volcanoes To Mine Bitcoin
Lisa Vanderpump Weighs in on the Most Shocking Part of Tom Sandoval and Raquel Leviss' Alleged Affair
Royal Family Website Updates Line of Succession to Include Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet's Titles