Wisconsin voter records had phone number due to system upgrade

President Joe Biden gained the 2020 presidential election, although some folks have lengthy claimed that former President Donald Trump truly gained the election, and his win wasn’t acknowledged due to voter fraud.

In reference to that principle, a meme just lately started recirculating on Twitter with thousands of retweets and likes that claims there have been greater than 23,203 registered voters in Racine County, Wisconsin, which have the identical phone number, main many to suspect some form of foul play. 

This declare dates again to no less than November 2021 when The Gateway Pundit ran a story alleging the greater than 23,203 registered voters which have the identical phone number is proof of voter fraud as a result of Biden gained Wisconsin by solely 20,000 votes. 

In Racine County, Trump beat Biden by about 4 factors, however Biden won the state of Wisconsin by a less-than 1 level margin, in accordance to licensed election outcomes.

During the 2020 election, had been there 23,203 Racine County, Wisconsin voters registered with the identical phone number? 

No, throughout the 2020 election there weren’t 23,203 Racine County, Wisconsin voters registered with the identical phone number. Most of these individuals who appeared to have the identical phone number weren’t eligible to vote.

There had been 1000’s of individuals within the voter registration database that did seem to have the identical phone number, however not as a result of they had been pretend voters. It’s due to a system upgrade to the voter registration system, John Smalley, the general public information officer for the Wisconsin Election Commission (WEC) instructed VERIFY. The system was upgraded 14 years earlier than the 2020 election.

The WEC contains an evidence as to why there are repeated phone numbers on the voter rolls on the frequently-asked-questions (FAQ) page of their website, Smalley mentioned.

Prior to 2005, municipalities with greater than 5,000 folks had been required to preserve observe of voter registrations, both in their very own database or spreadsheet. In 2006, the Statewide Voter Registration System (SVRS), now known as WisVote, was launched and the info from all municipalities was merged right into a centralized system, as mandated by federal law. 

For Racine County voters with names within the database, a default phone number was inputted as a placeholder for individuals who did not present one when registering to vote. 

A big majority of these names within the voter database that had the identical phone number had been voters who had been inactive for a few years, the WEC says. An inactive voter is ineligible to vote. 

When someone is marked as inactive on the state’s registered voter list, they would want to register once more earlier than turning into eligible to vote.

According to the League of Women Voters of Wisconsin, the state of Wisconsin sends mailers to voters so as to preserve them on the energetic voter registry; if somebody fails to reply or doesn’t have any registration exercise, they change into inactive. 

Other reasons somebody could also be thought of an inactive voter embrace:

• Failure to take part in an election in 4 years
• Change in residence
• Deceased
• Committed a felony 

Active registered voters, seem on pollbooks, and might solid a poll in statewide elections. Inactive voters are usually not registered to vote, don’t seem on pollbooks, and can’t solid a poll in Wisconsin elections, except they re-register to vote.

Smalley mentioned as a result of the phone number appeared subsequent to inactive voters, these folks wouldn’t have participated within the 2020 election as a result of they weren’t registered to vote within the first place. 

So why are the inactive names nonetheless within the system? WEC says the state of Wisconsin doesn’t delete ineligible voters from the voter registration database as a result of in the event that they do, there can be no registration historical past, no participation historical past, and no historical past of why a document grew to become ineligible.

The county elections clerk is answerable for updating the voter records, Smalley instructed VERIFY, and voter records are cleaned up “one voter at a time.” If an individual makes modifications to their voter registration with the county clerk, then the placeholder phone number might be changed, although it isn’t a requirement.

Phone numbers aren’t required as a part of a voter document or as a part of voter registration, and a phone number has no bearing on a voter’s eligibility, WEC says.

There may nonetheless be energetic, or eligible, voters in Racine County with the placeholder phone number nonetheless subsequent to their identify. When the FAQ was posted to the WEC web site, there have been 384 energetic voters within the registration database with the placeholder number. Smalley mentioned on the time of this publication, there might be lower than that.

WisVote can solely be accessed by approved customers with safety coaching, so VERIFY couldn’t independently verify the precise number of individuals in Racine with the identical placeholder phone number hooked up to their voter document. VERIFY reached out to Racine County however didn’t hear again on the time of publication.