A report from the Wisconsin Institute for Law and Liberty has highlighted a legal loophole that allows thousands of voters in Wisconsin to cast their ballots without showing photo identification as required by state law. The number of voters classified as “indefinitely confined” has increased by 116% since 2016, reaching over 144,000. This provision, intended for the disabled, elderly, ill, and infirm, gained attention in 2020 when citizens in Milwaukee and Madison were advised to use it to vote without a photo ID during COVID restrictions.
In the 2020 election, President Biden won Wisconsin by nearly 21,000 votes, while former President Donald Trump won in 2016 by about 27,000 votes. Polls show Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris are currently neck and neck in the state. Wisconsin residents are required to show a government-issued photo ID when voting, but not when registering to vote. “Indefinitely confined” voters can sign up for automatic absentee ballots for every election until they are no longer confined or fail to return a ballot.
The Wisconsin Supreme Court halted the use of the “indefinitely confined” status for widespread voting in 2020, but the number of voters with this status has quadrupled from almost 67,000 in 2016 to more than 265,000 in 2020, representing about 8% of total votes cast four years ago. Despite state law requiring voter-roll cleanups, the number of indefinitely confined voters has decreased to just over 144,000, still more than double that of 2016. Democratic strongholds such as Madison, Milwaukee, Green Bay, Kenosha, and Janesville have the highest number of voters with indefinitely confined status.
The Wisconsin Institute for Law and Liberty, while not finding evidence of widespread voter fraud among those using the “indefinitely confined” status, believes there is cause for concern regarding this loophole in the voting system. The organization is worried that the inflated number of indefinitely confined voters could be used to challenge election results, as was seen in 2020. One proposed solution is to change the law to require a doctor’s note or a photo ID to qualify for the status. A bill to implement such requirements was passed by Republican state lawmakers, but Democratic Governor Tony Evers vetoed it in 2022.
In 2020, the Wisconsin Elections Commission reported that 78% of indefinitely confined voters had shown a photo ID at some point. However, this figure has not been updated. While most municipal clerks have complied with state requirements to identify and remove inactive voters from the indefinitely confined status, Madison failed to respond to requests to release relevant records promptly, potentially leaving as many as 38,000 registered indefinitely confined voters no longer eligible under state law. The Wisconsin Institute for Law and Liberty suggests that voters in non-compliant communities should file complaints with the Wisconsin Elections Commission to address the issue.
