A lawsuit seeking last-minute changes to Wisconsin’s voter registration list has been dismissed by a Milwaukee County judge. The challenge, filed weeks before election day, alleged more than 140,000 people on the voter rolls no longer reside at the addresses they listed while registering to vote.
The suit was filed Sept. 30 by attorney Dan Eastman on behalf of three Milwaukee residents. Eastman was one of the lawyers involved in failed 2020 lawsuit attempting to overturn former President Donald Trump’s loss to President Joe Biden in Wisconsin.
In the suit filed last month, the plaintiffs claimed 143,742 people listed as active on Wisconsin’s registration list “appear to be invalid” based on cross references with U.S. Postal Service data. Of those, the suit alleges 56,336 “anomalous registrations” are in Milwaukee.
Eastman was seeking a court order forcing the Milwaukee Elections Commission and Wisconsin Elections Commission to contact each of the individuals and deactivate the voter registrations of anyone who did not respond within 30 days.
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On Oct. 22, the Milwaukee Elections Commission filed a motion to dismiss the lawsuit. The commission argued the plaintiffs should have first filed their complaint with the state elections commission.
In response, the plaintiffs argued the Wisconsin Supreme Court has ruled that complaints don’t need to be filed with the state elections commission before litigation is filed.
Milwaukee County Circuit Court Judge Timothy Witkowiak dismissed Eastman’s suit Monday.
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