Wisconsin judge pauses his ruling requiring officials to check voter rolls for noncitizens

A Waukesha County judge on Friday stayed his earlier ruling requiring Wisconsin election officials to verify the citizenship of currently registered voters, after the plaintiffs in the case joined the respondents in asking him for a pause.

Judge Michael Maxwell’s initial ruling, in early October, was in favor of the plaintiffs. But at Friday’s hearing, a lawyer representing them, Michael Dean, said they wanted it paused so they could instead focus on discovery. Dean said that would allow the plaintiffs to understand a key sticking point in the case: how detailed and accurate the state Department of Transportation’s citizenship data is.

State election officials have repeatedly said the DOT’s data is often inaccurate and can’t be used by election officials to reliably verify the citizenship of people on the state’s voter rolls.

Maxwell and lawyers for the state Department of Justice, who were representing the Wisconsin Elections Commission, initially seemed confused by the plaintiffs’ request to stay the ruling, which is what the state agencies had been seeking.





https://www.votebeat.org/wisconsin/2025/10/31/judge-pauses-ruling-requiring-noncitizen-voter-audit/