(The Center Square) – President Donald Trump’s Department of Justice has threatened Wisconsin’s federal election funding for allegedly failing to follow federal voting integrity laws.
If the DOJ follows through, Wisconsin could lose its future federal funds for administering elections and election security.
In a letter from Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights Harmeet Dhillon late Wednesday, the DOJ accused the Wisconsin Election Commission of failing to comply with the Helping Americans Vote Act by not providing a system to hear and respond to complaints against the commission regarding election integrity.
“Quite surprisingly, we have learned that the Wisconsin Elections Commission has refused to provide any administrative complaint process or hearing regarding HAVA complaints against the commission,” Dhillon said. “Rather, Wisconsin has decided to rely on a 2022 state court case opining that the commission cannot police itself.”
Dhillon claimed the commission’s actions has left complainants alleging HAVA violations by the WEC without any decision or interpretation of the law.
The letter argued a federal judge had already opined that the commission’s failure to create a system to receive and hear complainants was bad for Wisconsin voters, and that “with no opportunity or means to appeal, complainants are left stranded with their grievances.”
“We are hereby notifying the U.S. Election Assistance Commission of Wisconsin’s failure to follow federal election laws,” Dhillon concluded. “Your actions justify a bar against the Wisconsin Elections Commission receiving any future funding from the U.S. Election Assistance Commission.”
Wisconsin received more than $18 million in federal funds for election security in 2024, according to a EAC report.
In addition, Wisconsin has received more than $77M in federal funding from 2003 to 2020, according to the U.S. Election Assistance Commission.
WEC declined to comment on this story at the time of publication.
