{"id":2024525,"date":"2023-09-07T11:55:02","date_gmt":"2023-09-07T15:55:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/court-wisconsins-unauthorized-use-of-federal-voter-registration-form-violates-state-law\/"},"modified":"2023-09-07T11:57:43","modified_gmt":"2023-09-07T15:57:43","slug":"court-wisconsins-unauthorized-use-of-federal-voter-registration-form-violates-state-law","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/court-wisconsins-unauthorized-use-of-federal-voter-registration-form-violates-state-law\/","title":{"rendered":"Court: Wisconsin&#8217;s use of unauthorized federal voter registration form breaks state law."},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"float:left\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">24<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fcourt-wisconsins-unauthorized-use-of-federal-voter-registration-form-violates-state-law%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2024525&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><div>\n<div>\n<div>\n<figure>\n      <\/figure>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><strong>The Wisconsin Elections\u2064 Commission \u200b(WEC) illegally\u200d used a form that was\u200c not authorized in accordance with state law\u2062 to register new voters, a\u2064 <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/pa-supreme-court-throws-out-school-mask-mandate\/\" title=\"Pa. Supreme Court throws out school mask mandate\">state court ruled<\/a> on Tuesday.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Writing for the Waukesha County \u2062Circuit Court,\u2063 Judge Michael\u200c Maxwell <a href=\"https:\/\/will-law.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/Braun-v.-WEC-Decision.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">ruled<\/a> \u2063that the WEC did not\u2063 properly authorize the use of the National Mail Voter \u200bRegistration Form (\u201cNational Form\u201d) to register new voters by mail. \u2062The form\u2064 is made available by the U.S. \u2064Election Assistance\u200d Commission, an independent federal agency\u200b that\u2064 provides resources \u200dregarding the\u2063 administration\u2064 of \u2064elections.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWEC\u200d has failed in this most basic duty by \u2064allowing the National Form to be used in Wisconsin where\u2064 WEC\u2063 has never actually [prescribed] \u200c its use,\u201d Maxwell wrote.<\/p>\n<p>In its lawsuit filed on behalf of a Wisconsin resident last \u2062year, the \u200cWisconsin\u200c Institute for Law &#038; Liberty (WILL)\u2062 <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2022\/09\/19\/lawsuit-wisconsin-elections-commission-illegally-used-unauthorized-voter-registration-forms\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">alleged<\/a> \u200d the WEC\u2019s \u200cuse of the National Form\u2064 was illegal because the agency failed to engage in proper\u2062 \u201crulemaking\u201d before authorizing its use. The legal\u2062 group also claimed the form \u201cadds extra criteria not authorized by \u2062statute or rule.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The \u2063WEC tried to claim it had properly authorized the form\u2019s \u200duse, but Maxwell specifically noted that the agency \u2062failed to produce evidence showing \u201cthat the National Form was approved by a prior election agency at\u2063 some point in the\u2064 past,\u201d even when asked to do so by WILL\u2019s client. The Wisconsin \u200cjudge also eviscerated the WEC \u200bfor \u201cfeebly\u201d attempting to rely on an affidavit signed by Kevin Kennedy, \u201cthe election \u200bagency administrator\u2063 for the prior two \u200cstate \u200belections agencies,\u201d\u200b who couldn\u2019t even substantiate the agency\u2019s claims.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMr. Kennedy as the former \u2062chief administrator of elections in this state \u200cfor\u2063 nearly thirty-three years can not provide any credible \u2062evidence as to where, when, or how the National Form was \u2064approved,\u201d \u200bMaxwell wrote.\u200c \u201cCertainly, Mr. Kennedy offers no evidence that\u2063 WEC approved the National Form as is required by\u201d state law.<\/p>\n<p>In \u2064addition to \u2064deeming Wisconsin\u2019s unauthorized use of the National Form\u200c to register new voters illegal, the\u2063 court enjoined the WEC\u2062 from \u201cissuing guidance of any kind that the\u200c National \u2063Form is \u200capproved for\u2062 use or \u2064that the National Form may be used to register voters in\u2064 Wisconsin,\u201d unless and until the WEC \u200d\u201cprescribes\u200b [its] use.\u201d The\u200d agency is\u2063 also required to \u201cwithdraw any such\u2063 guidance\u201d and inform local election clerks about the form\u2019s illegality.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt is unfortunate that time \u200cand time again\u2064 Wisconsinites have to go to court to \u200dforce state\u2064 agencies \u200bto follow the law,\u201d WILL Deputy Counsel Lucas \u2062Vebber said in a \u2063 <a href=\"https:\/\/will-law.org\/will-wins-lawsuit-over-illegal-voter-registration-form\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">statement<\/a>. \u201cToday\u2019s win is a tremendous victory for Wisconsinites, and sends yet \u2063another strong message to bureaucrats who disregard the rule \u200bof law.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>As Vebber indicated, Tuesday\u2019s ruling is not the first time\u2064 a court has found the WEC to \u200bhave \u200dviolated state law. In July 2022, the Wisconsin Supreme Court \u2062 <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2022\/07\/08\/wisconsin-supreme-court-drops-hammer-on-2020-election-shenanigans-ballot-drop-boxes-are-illegal-under-wisconsin-law\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">ruled<\/a> the WEC\u2019s authorization of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/top-3-things-tucker-carlson-says-the-regime-doesnt-want-you-talking-about\/\" title=\"Tucker Carlson's Unspoken Topics\">ballot\u200d drop boxes<\/a> during\u200d the 2020 election violated state\u200c law and further prohibited the devices from being\u200b used in future elections.<\/p>\n<p>With the Wisconsin Supreme Court now controlled by Democrats, leftist legal groups have <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2023\/08\/10\/republican-groups-intervene-to-stop-democrats-lawfare-against-wisconsin-elections\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">filed \u2064lawsuits<\/a> in recent months seeking to\u200b overturn the high court\u2019s prior drop box ruling. These same groups have also <a href=\"https:\/\/abcnews.go.com\/Politics\/wireStory\/wisconsin-lawsuit-asks-new-liberal-controlled-supreme-court-101956410\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">filed suit<\/a> seeking to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/court-wisconsins-unauthorized-use-of-federal-voter-registration-form-violates-state-law\/\" title=\"Court: Wisconsin's use of unauthorized federal voter registration form breaks state law.\">scrap state legislative maps drawn<\/a> by Wisconsin\u2019s Republican-controlled legislature.<\/p>\n<hr>\n<p>Shawn Fleetwood is a staff writer for The Federalist and a graduate of the University of Mary \u200dWashington.\u2062 He previously served as a \u2064state content writer\u200c for \u200bConvention \u200bof States Action \u200band his work \u2064has been\u200c featured in numerous outlets, including RealClearPolitics, RealClearHealth, and\u2063 Conservative \u200bReview. Follow\u2062 him on Twitter @ShawnFleetwood<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div data-image data-amount=\"5\">\n<h2>Popular<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/thefederalist.com\/#\"><\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/thefederalist.com\/#\"><\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/thefederalist.com\/#\"><\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/thefederalist.com\/#\"><\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/thefederalist.com\/#\"><\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul><\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Waukesha County Circuit Court ruled that the Wisconsin Elections Commission (WEC) unlawfully employed an unauthorized form to register new voters. Judge Michael Maxwell stated that the WEC failed to properly authorize the use of the National Mail Voter Registration Form, in violation of state law.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":539,"featured_media":2024526,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[546],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2024525","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-federalist"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2024525","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/539"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2024525"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2024525\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2024526"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2024525"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2024525"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2024525"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}