The illogical Wisconsin Elections Commission did convene on Friday to discuss rules for requiring noncitizen Authentication at elections, as directed by Rep. Bryan Steil.  ,
Late last year, Steil, the chairman of the House Administration Committee, which controls national election law, wrote a letter to WEC requesting that it define whether the limited expression and non-domiciled vehicle’s licenses and ID cards from swing state Wisconsin can be used as residency card verification.  ,
Teaser Alert: Members of the Elections Commission have proposed recommendations for how to use the momentary user IDs that are typically issued to noncitizens to cast ballots. Elections Commissioner Bob Spindell explained to The Federalist that anyone could probably claim to be a citizen of the United States and cast ballots using only their expression as evidence.
Wisconsin laws, according to the WEC letter, “mandates that these identifiers may be accepted as a suitable form of voting identification”.
The letter states that “having a valid recognition does not necessarily mean that the owner of the recognition is eligible to vote.”  ,
As the advice information, Limited Term and Non-Domiciled ID buyers, or “temporary guests”, usually are not lawful permanent residents — green card holders — or U. S. people at the time the IDs are issued.  ,
Why did temporary visitor IDs get approved for use to cast ballots in elections when noncitizens are strictly prohibited from doing so?  ,
After the ID was issued, a cardholder may have become a native resident, according to Spindell in The Federalist. But the individual does n’t necessarily have to show proof, such as a naturalization certificate, to cast the ballot.
WEC’s suggested advice lays out a problem process. If an individual presents a Limited Term or Non-Domiciled ID card, state law demands the election inspector “examine whether the individual’s qualifications to vote should be challenged” . ,
” These problem procedures must be followed in full”, the instruction state. ” Clerks or vote auditors may deny one membership, or refuse to allow them to cast a ballot, without following the proper issue methods”.
The vote official had first formally appoint the candidate and then question,” Are you a United States member?”
” If the individual answers that they are not a U. S. member, the vote inspector may not matter the vote, and may not allow that individual to vote”, the advice states.  ,
What if the individual claims to be a U. S. citizen? The individual receives a ballot. The vote can be challenged. In that situation, the voter must certify under oath that he is a citizen of the United States and that he complies with all other requirements.
” Contrary to Wisconsin Law,”
What if a temporary visitor ID holder poses a false claim of citizenship? Well, that’s a felony under federal law. But who is thoroughly verifying these assertions, especially in a state where the Democratic-controlled executive branch refuses to grant candidates access to more extensive citizenship verification tools?  ,
According to Spindell, the honor system opens the door to potential voter fraud. In a critical battleground state like Wisconsin, in razor-thin elections, Spindell believes there’s a greater temptation to cheat. He claimed that he is more concerned with the bad actors who are trying to rig the system than with the noncitizens.
” I do n’t trust the U. S. citizens who are pushing for additional votes to get through”, he told The Federalist in an interview Wednesday.
The proposed guidance may be confusing to election clerks because Spindell is one of three Republicans ( the other three Democrats ) and one of three Republicans. Finding a consensus on direction requires compromise because the commission is intentionally divided along party lines. The commission’s leftists have never been particularly fond of compromise, just as Wisconsin Democrats have opposed legislation to strengthen voter ID laws.  ,
According to Spindell, clear guidance on noncitizen driver’s licenses is long overdue.  ,
” This license has been in use for eight years. It’s something that’s not new”, he said. The troubled Elections Commission, which has on numerous occasions issued guidance in violation of election law, is only getting around the question a few days before the general election.  ,
State Rep. Janel Brandtjen, a Milwaukee-area Republican who led state Assembly investigations into the irregularity-plagued 2020 election, has been warning her fellow lawmakers — Republicans and Democrats — about the potential election integrity problem of the driver’s licenses issued to noncitizens. A bill passed last year by the Republican-controlled legislature that would have required noncitizen IDs to state explicitly that the cards are” not valid for voting purposes” or another recognizable sign.  ,
Democrat Gov. Every Democrat in the legislature cast a ballot against a pending constitutional amendment question that clearly states that ONLY citizens are eligible to cast ballot in Wisconsin’s state and local elections, just as Tony Evers did with the election integrity measure.  ,
Spindell said he’s going to push for greater clarification on the proposed guidance, which was hammered out by WEC chairwoman Ann Jacobs, a highly partisan Democrat appointee, and former chairman Don Millis, a GOP appointee. Spindell argued that temporary visitor ID holders must provide evidence of U.S. citizenship to election officials.
Steil raised questions about the temporary visitor IDs in a letter he sent to the Elections Commission last week. The congressman argued that state laws “exist to ensure only permanent residents of Wisconsin can vote in Wisconsin’s elections rather than any temporary visitors.”
As a result, it would seem against Wisconsin law for these IDs to serve as authentic residency documentation to register to cast ballot in Wisconsin, Steil wrote. Your office has failed to provide guidance on how to handle these applications, according to media reports. Clear instructions and rules can help Americans gain confidence in our elections, and they deserve it. Inaction from your office could result in ineligible voters being registered to vote and exposes clerks to unfair criticism of a topic that could have been avoided.
So now WEC is about to issue guidance. Will the last-minute instructions be sufficient to stop ineligible voters from eroding Badger State election integrity given the untold numbers of noncitizens on Wisconsin voter rolls and an unprecedented wave of illegal immigrants flooding into the country over the past few years?  ,
For more election news and updates, visit , electionbriefing.com.
Matt Kittle covers The Federalist’s senior elections coverage. An award-winning investigative reporter and 30-year veteran of print, broadcast, and online journalism, Kittle previously served as the executive director of Empower Wisconsin.
