The Wisconsin Department of Justice on Monday asked a judge to immediately put on hold his order that would require elections officials to verify the citizenship of all 3.6 million registered Wisconsin voters before the next statewide election in February.
The state justice department, which represents the Wisconsin Elections Commission, is seeking the stay of Friday's ruling pending an appeal.
Waukesha County Circuit Judge Michael Maxwell scheduled a hearing on the request for Oct. 31, saying issuing an immediate stay would violate due process. He did temporarily block a section of his order that prohibits the commission from accepting any request to register as a voter without verification that the applicant is a U.S. citizen.
The fight over verifying the citizenship status of voters in battleground Wisconsin comes as President Donald Trump's Department of Justice has sought voter records from at least 26 states, including Wisconsin. Trump's Justice Department is taking steps to crack down on voter fraud and noncitizen voting, both of which are rare but have been the subject of years of false claims from Trump and his allies.
The Wisconsin lawsuit was filed in August 2024 in the lead-up to the November presidential election by two suburban Milwaukee voters, including a longtime critic of how elections are run in the state.
The Wisconsin Department of Justice is asking a judge to immediately put on hold his order that would require elections officials to verify the citizenship of all 3.6 million registered Wisconsin voters before the next statewide election in February.
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