U.S. Department of Justice Seeking Wisconsin's Voter Registration Data

Thursday, July 24th, 2025 -- 10:01 AM

(Molly Beck, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel) U.S. Department of Justice officials are seeking Wisconsin voter registration data and information on election fraud as part of a broader effort to gather information about state elections in at least a dozen states.

According to Molly Beck with the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, the requests come after DOJ officials threatened to withhold funding for the Wisconsin Elections Commission over alleged violations of federal law even though agency leaders said there is no funding to cut.

Now, federal officials have requested a copy of the state's voter rolls from the Wisconsin Elections Commission and have asked for information on incidents of election fraud from Secretary of State Sarah Godlewski, who does not oversee elections like her counterparts in other states.

The DOJ officials in a July 10 letter to Godlewski said the information gathering was part of an effort to carry out a new executive order from the President aimed at overhauling elections.

"With your cooperation, we plan to use this information to enforce Federal election laws and protect the integrity of Federal elections," Scott Laragy of the Executive Office for United States Attorneys and Paul Hayden of DOJ, wrote in a July 10 letter to Godlewski.

An official in Godlewski's office said it's "our understanding that letters went out to all Democratic Secretaries of State as part of a coordinated and cynical witch hunt about the 2020 election that will hinder or hurt our hardworking local election officials."

The officials are seeking to discuss with Godlewski "a potential information-sharing agreement" that would provide the U.S. DOJ with information on people who have voted illegally, committed other forms of election fraud, or have provided false information to state officials on voter registration forms, among other conduct.

Godlewski, however, does not oversee elections and does not track such information in her office. The letter to Godlewski came after Wisconsin Elections Commission administrator Meagan Wolfe received a letter June 17 seeking information on how the state oversees elections and requested a copy of the state's voter rolls.

WEC officials told the DOJ officials they could submit a request and pay the state's $12,500 fee to obtain the list. A spokeswoman for WEC said DOJ officials had not made the official request as of July 22.

Don Millis, a Republican member of the state elections commission, said the agency should cooperate. "We should cooperate to the extent that we can without violating the law; that's what we should do," Millis said.

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