MILWAUKEE — Wisconsin will not allow election clerks to check voters’ citizenship status in a federal database, a rejection of the Trump administration’s efforts to ensure election integrity.
The Wisconsin Elections Commission voted unanimously earlier this month to bar the state’s roughly 1,800 municipal clerks from using the Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements (SAVE) program, a federal website that allows state and local officials to verify a person’s citizenship status before granting them a license or enrolling them in benefit programs like Medicaid.
The commission claims that checking voters’ citizenship status would violate a state law that restricts the disclosure of voter registration information. However, there is an exemption in the statute that allows for any voter registration information to be transferred “to a law enforcement agency” or “to be used for law enforcement purposes.”
The ruling could be consequential in November. It is estimated that there could be as many as 70,000 illegal immigrants currently living in Wisconsin. The state’s August 2026 Democrat gubernatorial primary was determined by less than 3,500 votes.
In a letter to Wisconsin’s legislative leadership, Elections Commission Chair Don Millis defended the committee’s decision to not allow clerks to check voters’ citizenship status, arguing that Wisconsin law supersedes a September Supreme Court ruling that cleared the way for the Trump administration to launch the SAVE database.
“We appreciate that not all lawmakers will support an independent citizenship verification process that provides Wisconsin voter data to federal agencies,” Millis said. “However, if the Legislature chooses to pursue such a process, it is my hope that lawmakers appreciate the need to explicitly authorize data sharing and delineate responsibilities between jurisdictions.”
Elections Commissioner Robert Spindell said he “disagreed with the rationale for not cooperating” with the Departments of Justice and Homeland Security and argued in favor of working with the Trump administration, but ultimately capitulated and voted to block clerks from using SAVE.
The day before the commission voted, JoCasta Zamarripa, the Democrat candidate running to be Wisconsin Secretary of State, stated in an interview that her “number one priority” was to pass legislation granting driver’s licenses to illegal aliens. In Wisconsin, a valid driver’s license allows an eligible voter to register online.
Zamarripa’s Republican opponent, Jay Schroeder, has framed his candidacy around increasing election integrity efforts within the state. Zamarripa claimed his efforts were an attempt to “undermine our elections.”
Democrat gubernatorial nominee David Crowley has also expressed support for expanding benefits to illegal aliens. At a candidate forum earlier this year, Crowley raised his hand when asked if he supported giving driver’s licenses to noncitizens. He also signaled his agreement that law enforcement should be banned from asking about an individual’s immigration status.
When asked about his stance on illegal immigration, Crowley said, “I’m not an ally. I’m an accomplice.” He has stated that he doesn’t see “any scenario” in which he would work with immigration enforcement.
“It is deeply frustrating to see the Wisconsin [Elections] Commission repeatedly oppose common sense attempts to clean up Wisconsin’s voter rolls and fight fraud,” Wisconsin State Senator André Jacque told The Daily Wire.
“To see the WEC Board seemingly disregard the clear provision in Wisconsin law that specifically allows sharing of the voter list with bona fide law enforcement agencies like the Department of Homeland Security for situations such as this — how can that not be disheartening to the cause of election integrity?”
The Wisconsin Institute for Law and Liberty has proposed an audit of the state’s voter rolls, but Democrat Governor Tony Evers blocked a bill that would have audited the voter rolls in April 2026. He claimed that audits would place an “additional burden” on citizens.
The federal government has maintained the SAVE database since 1986. In 2025, President Donald Trump issued an executive order integrating SAVE with the Social Security Administration with the express purpose of checking voter rolls. Opponents sued to block the executive order, but the Supreme Court ruled 6-3 in September that the Trump administration had the authority to continue operating its expanded SAVE program amid pending litigation.
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