Election Day registration allows individuals to vote now with verification of eligibility after the election and certification of results.

(Green Bay, WI) – April 8, 2024: The Public Interest Legal Foundation filed a complaint with the Wisconsin Elections Commission (WEC) on behalf of three Green Bay residents over Green Bay Clerk Celestine Jeffreys’ ignoring laws put into place to detect abuse of the Election Day registration process.

Wisconsin enacted safeguards to its Election Day voter registration process to “audit” voters’ claimed addresses and identify which registrations should be inactivated and referred to prosecutors.

WEC is required to mail postcards following each election to all voters who registered using Election Day registration to “audit” the addresses given at the polls before voting. When these postcards are returned to local election clerks as “undeliverable,” clerks are required to investigate each card to determine why mail delivery failed. If they cannot identify a problem within the Postal Service or a typographical error in the address needing a correction, under Wisconsin law, they must inactivate the registrant and refer the issue to the District Attorney to investigate whether an election crime occurred.

In 2023, WEC issued updated guidance reaffirming this address verification process is mandatory.  

According to data published by WEC and Jeffreys herself, Jeffreys does not investigate bad addresses, inactivate registrants whose postcards bounce back as “undeliverable,” and does not refer these cases to the District Attorney.

“The city of Green Bay is ignoring Wisconsin law by not investigating whether registrants are using improper addresses on Election Day,” said PILF President J. Christian Adams. “Election Day registration must have safeguards that ensure eligibility to vote. In Wisconsin, that only happens after their vote has already been counted, if it happens at all. This complaint seeks to require the law to be followed so that any bad actor knows there will be consequences for abusing the Election Day voter registration process.”

The Foundation is representing three Green Bay registered voters. Noel Johnson is the Foundation’s attorney in this matter.

Access case documents for Glen Hogan v. Celestine Jeffreys here. A factsheet on the case is here.

Public Interest Legal Foundation (PILF) is the nation’s only public interest law firm dedicated wholly to election integrity. The Foundation exists to assist states and others to aid the cause of election integrity and fight against lawlessness in American elections. Drawing on numerous experts in the field, PILF seeks to protect the right to vote and preserve the Constitutional framework of American elections. PILF has brought lawsuits and won victories in Texas, Mississippi, North Carolina, Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Michigan, and across the United States.

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For media inquiries, please reach out to Lbowman@publicinterestlegal.org