Steil demands answers about temporary Wisconsin residents registering to vote

(The Center Square) - With 11 days until Election Day, U.S. Rep. Bryan Steil, R-Wisc., has sent a letter to the Wisconsin Elections Commission asking for clarification on whether individuals can use Limited Term and Non-Domiciled ID cards as proof of state residency when registered to vote.

Wisconsin election law requires U.S. citizens who are at least 18 years of age to have resided in an election district for 28 days before an election. Steil expressed concerns over the WEC allegedly failing to provide answers to municipal clerks who have requested the office’s guidance on how to handle voter registration applications using these forms of IDs as proof of state residency.

“It would appear contrary to Wisconsin law for these IDs to serve as valid proof of residency to register to vote in Wisconsin. The point of these IDs is to show that the individual does not have the necessary intent to reside in the state and is only present for temporary purposes,” Steil wrote. “Moreover, if Wisconsin were to allow these IDs to serve as valid proof of residency, it would risk allowing a voter to vote in more than one state.”

Steil asked the WEC to immediately issue guidance on whether clerks can allow temporary visitors to register to vote in Wisconsin. The congressman, who is up for reelection this November, has been actively engaged in election security efforts, such as leading an investigation into political donation platform ActBlue for allegedly allowing illegal donations to occur on its website.

As of Friday, nearly 293,000 people in Wisconsin have voted in-person, and more than 305,000 absentee ballots have been returned, The Center Square reported.