The Wisconsin Supreme Court on Tuesday rejected a bid by a conservative activist to access guardianship records, an effort aimed at identifying and removing potentially ineligible voters from the state's registration lists. The ruling, a 5-2 decision by the state's highest court, sides with counties seeking to protect the privacy of these records.
The case, brought by former travel executive Ron Heuer and his group, the Wisconsin Voter Alliance, has been ongoing since 2022. The group alleged that the number of ineligible voters on Wisconsin's registration list did not align with official counts. Heuer sought court permission to compare guardianship records, specifically those where a judge determined an individual is not competent to vote, against the state's voter rolls.
Attorneys for the plaintiffs argued that privacy concerns could be addressed by redacting sensitive information from the records. However, the attorney representing Walworth County, Sam Hall, stated that accessing the records for the purpose of cross-referencing would require names and addresses, which the plaintiffs sought to obtain.
In Wisconsin, guardianship orders are granted when a court deems an individual unable to make their own life decisions. A court can revoke a person's right to vote if they are found to be incapable of understanding the purpose of voting. The Wisconsin Voter Alliance sought these records to cross-reference with voter registration lists in an effort to identify individuals who might be voting despite being deemed ineligible.
The state Supreme Court's liberal majority, joined by conservative Justice Brian Hagedorn, determined that the records in question are not public. Justice Janet Protasiewicz, writing for the majority, stated that state law clearly defines these records as non-public and that the Alliance has no legal right to them.
Conservative Justices Annette Ziegler and Rebecca Bradley dissented, arguing that the majority's definition of what constitutes incompetency records was too broad and that forms indicating a person's ineligibility to vote should be subject to public records laws. They contended that such forms are not directly related to the finding of incompetency itself.
The case has been framed by some as an attempt to cast doubt on Wisconsin's election integrity, particularly following challenges to the 2020 presidential election results. In 2020, President Joe Biden defeated then-President Donald Trump by nearly 21,000 votes in Wisconsin. This outcome has been affirmed through multiple audits, reviews, and legal challenges. Trump won Wisconsin by approximately 29,000 votes in the 2024 election, and no lawsuits challenging that result are currently pending.