Wisconsin Supreme Court Rejects Bid to Access Guardianship Records for Voter Purges

The Wisconsin Supreme Court has rejected a conservative activist’s attempt to access guardianship records, an effort aimed at identifying purportedly ineligible voters in the crucial presidential battleground state.

The ruling marks another setback for those who have sought to challenge the integrity of past election results.

The case, which has navigated the state’s judicial system for years, originated from broader conservative endeavors to overturn President Joe Biden's 2020 victory in Wisconsin over Donald Trump.

Ron Heuer, a former travel executive, and his group, the Wisconsin Voter Alliance, initiated the lawsuit in 2022, claiming a disparity between the number of ineligible voters and the state’s voter registration list.

The lawsuit did not specify the potential number of affected individuals.

In Wisconsin, a guardianship order is a court-granted directive that assigns legal rights over an individual deemed unable to make personal decisions.

Such an order can remove a person's right to vote if they are determined to be incapable of understanding "the objective of the election process."

Heuer had petitioned the state’s highest court to mandate counties release records filed when a judge determines someone is not competent to vote, allowing these names to be cross-referenced with voter rolls.

Heuer’s attorney, Erick Kaardal, argued that privacy concerns could be balanced with public access by redacting identifying or sensitive information.

However, Sam Hall, representing Walworth County, countered that cross-checking ineligible voters against registered names would necessitate releasing personal details like names and addresses, which would violate privacy.

Hall lauded the court’s decision, stating it "protects the privacy of vulnerable individuals while preserving their dignity."

Kaardal did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The Wisconsin Freedom of Information Council, while not taking a stance on the case, described the ruling as "narrowly tailored and should not have a huge impact," though it expressed disappointment when "access to public information is curtailed."

In a 5-2 decision on Tuesday, the Wisconsin Supreme Court’s liberal majority, joined by conservative Justice Brian Hagedorn, determined that the records are not public, contrary to the activist’s claims.

The court took up the case after two lower state appeals courts issued conflicting rulings, with one denying access and another ordering the release of redacted records.

Justice Janet Protasiewicz, writing for the majority, asserted that state law clearly designates the sought-after records as non-public, and therefore, "the Alliance has no right to the records."

Dissenting conservative Justices Annette Ziegler and Rebecca Bradley argued that the majority adopted "an overbroad and unworkable definition of what records pertain to a finding of incompetency," contending that forms indicating a person’s voting ineligibility should be subject to open records law.

This case is one of several attempts by those who questioned the outcome of the 2020 presidential race to sow doubt about election integrity in the swing state.

Heuer and the WVA filed lawsuits in 13 Wisconsin counties in 2022 seeking guardianship records.

The group has also promoted conspiracy theories regarding the 2020 election in a failed bid to overturn Biden’s win in Wisconsin, and Heuer was involved as an investigator in a discredited 2020 election probe led by former Wisconsin Supreme Court Justice Michael Gableman, which found no evidence of fraud or abuse that would have altered the election results.

Biden defeated Trump by nearly 21,000 votes in Wisconsin in 2020, a result that has been upheld by independent and partisan audits, reviews, lawsuits, and recounts.

Trump won Wisconsin in 2024 by approximately 29,000 votes. There are currently no pending lawsuits challenging the results of the 2024 election or calls for an investigation into its outcome.