What to know about the legal fight over who should be on Wisconsin's voter rolls

MADISON - The latest front in Wisconsin's election battle is over who should be on the voter rolls. 

The state last month sent letters to about 234,000 people it believes may have moved. Conservatives sued over the issue last week.

Here's a look at the case and what it could mean for the 2020 presidential election. 

Who sued and why? 

Three men from suburban Milwaukee represented by the conservative Wisconsin Institute for Law & Liberty brought the lawsuit against the Wisconsin Elections Commission. They argue state law requires election officials to remove people from the voter rolls if they haven't heard from them within 30 days of notifying them they believe they have moved. 

Election officials contend the 30-day requirement does not apply, in part because the state has not determined that it has reliable information about who has moved. They don't want to remove people from the voter rolls for not responding to their letters until after April 2021. 

The commission consists of three Republicans and three Democrats. One member, Republican Bob Spindell, didn't join the commission until October, after the commission unanimously decided to give the letter recipients more than a year to change their voter registrations.

Why does the state believe these voters may have moved? 

The state generated the list of voters who have possibly moved with the assistance of the Electronic Registration Information Center, or ERIC, which helps 29 states keep their voting rolls accurate.

ERIC gathers information from other sources, such as the U.S. Postal Service and departments of motor vehicles, to detect when someone may have moved.

Sometimes that information provides false leads. For instance, some people might register their car at a relative's house to avoid paying a local wheel tax but still maintain their same home for voting purposes.

Has the state done this before? 

Yes. In 2017, the Wisconsin Elections Commission contacted about 340,000 voters who it believed may have moved.

It removed many of them from the voter rolls because they did not respond. Local election officials in the months afterward determined many of the people had not actually moved.

In September 2018, the commission told local clerks they could reinstate voter registrations if they believed people had been wrongly removed from the rolls.

That cleared the way for Milwaukee to restore the registrations of about 21,000 voters — nearly half the 44,000 Milwaukee voters who had been taken off the rolls in 2017.

What do other states do? 

The other states that belong to ERIC also send letters to voters when they believe they may have moved. But the vast majority of those states can't quickly remove people from the voter rolls because they are believed to have moved. 

The federal National Voter Registration Act, popularly known as the motor voter law, requires most states to wait until two elections have been held before removing voters believed to have moved from the rolls.

But Wisconsin is exempt from that federal law because, unlike most states, it allows people to register to vote on Election Day. That gives the state the ability to remove voters from the voter rolls much faster than most other states.

What are the political ramifications of the lawsuit? 

Wisconsin is perhaps the most closely watched state in next year's presidential election. Donald Trump defeated Hillary Clinton by fewer than 23,000 votes in 2016 and both sides will be monitoring the case. 

What have the voters who got the letter been told?

The letters state that there is reason to believe the recipients may have moved. It asks them to update their registrations if they have moved or return a postcard saying they still live at the same address. 

The letters don't say the people could have their voter registrations deactivated. That could become an important part of the lawsuit because voter advocates will likely contend people deserve to be warned before they have their voter registrations invalidated.

What should people do if they get a letter? 

Regardless of whether they have moved, they should take action. If they haven't moved, they can tell election clerks they are still at their current address and keep their voter registrations current. 

If they have moved, they need to update their voter registration. 

What happens if the voters are removed from the rolls?

Anyone removed from the rolls will have to re-register before they can vote. 

Some states require people to have their registrations up to date days or weeks before an election.

Wisconsin is not among those states and voters can take care of their registrations at the polls on Election Day. To do so, they will need to fill out paperwork and provide proof of residence, such as a driver's license, property tax bill, utility bill, bank statement, paycheck stub, lease or workplace ID. They also have the option of fixing their voter registration status before Election Day, either online or in their clerk's office.

People can register online at myvote.wi.gov. 

Those who are not able to update their registrations by Election Day won't be able to vote, even if their registrations were deactivated based on faulty information. 

What are other possible effects? 

If people are removed from the rolls even though they did not move, it could create confusion and longer lines at the polls.

On the flip side, if the voters aren't removed from the voter rolls, some people who moved will be registered at the wrong address and could wind up going to the wrong polling place.

What's the purpose of the mailing? 

Election clerks want the most accurate voting rolls possible and identifying people who may have moved helps them keep their records up to date. 

Voters have to be registered at their proper address to make sure they go to the correct voting precinct and get the correct ballot. If they vote from the wrong address, they could be voting in the wrong local, legislative and congressional races.

Who is affected? 

The letters went to about 7% of the state's 3.3 million registered voters.

The largest number of letters were sent to voters in the state's two largest cities, Milwaukee and Madison, which are also the state's Democratic strongholds. About 35,000 voters in Milwaukee and about 18,000 in Madison were sent the letters. 

The next largest groups of voters were in Eau Claire, Green Bay and La Crosse. About 4,000 voters were sent letters in each of those cities, according to the Elections Commission. 

In New Berlin, a reliably Republican city, about 1,400 voters were sent letters. A similar number of letters were sent to voters in Menomonee Falls, another bastion for Republicans.

What elections would be affected? 

Wisconsin in April will hold its presidential primary. Voters at that election will also decide races for state Supreme Court and local offices. In May, a special election for Congress in northern Wisconsin will be held.

There are primaries for the state Legislature and Congress in August. The presidential election is in November. 

If the lawsuit is successful, voters could come off the rolls before any of those 2020 elections are held. But the lawsuit could take time, especially if there are appeals, and the issue may not be resolved until after some of those elections are held. 

Contact Patrick Marley at patrick.marley@jrn.com. Follow him on Twitter at @patrickdmarley.