Trump issues order reshaping elections. Here’s what Wisconsin officials say it means for the state

• President Donald Trump signed an order aimed at reshaping how states carry out elections, but Wisconsin officials don’t believe the measures will impact the state’s pivotal April 1 vote.
• The Trump order mandates “documentary, government-issued proof of U.S. citizenship” on voter registration forms.
• Wisconsin is barred by a state court order from using the registration form described in Trump’s order.

MADISON – President Donald Trump signed an order Tuesday aimed at reshaping how states carry out elections, but Wisconsin officials don’t believe the measures are likely to impact the state’s pivotal April 1 spring contest.

In an executive order, Trump requires the federal Election Assistance Commission to mandate “documentary, government-issued proof of U.S. citizenship” on voter registration forms and bans clerks from counting absentee ballots received after Election Day, among other measures.

If state officials do not use the voter registration form called for under the order, they could lose federal funding. However, Wisconsin is banned by a Waukesha County judge from using the form at issue because it does not comport with state law.

Leaders of the state elections agency said the state is unlikely to face repercussions because the state is exempt from using the form.

“Anything that would possibly have an effect on Wisconsin elections doesn’t apply to our April election, and people should rest secure that they’re going to be able to vote in April,” said Wisconsin Elections Commission chairwoman Ann Jacobs, a Democrat.

“The Commission is obligated to follow what the Wisconsin courts have ordered us, and sometimes the federal courts, and so we’ll do what they what they direct,” said Don Millis, the Republican vice-chairman of the commission. “The courts have said that’s not a form that we’re allowed to use.”

A spokesman for the Wisconsin Elections Commission agency declined to comment on the order’s impact to state election practices.

Some national election experts predicted the order would be challenged in court immediately over Trump’s move to override Congress on what the federal voter registration form includes. Under the order, U.S. passports and REAL IDs would be accepted as proof of citizenship but not birth certificates.

“This executive order would block tens of millions of American citizens from voting,” The Brennan Center for Justice posted on X, referring to the requirement to provide documentation to prove citizenship. “Presidents have no authority to do this.”

In a statement, Trump said the order is going to “fix our elections so that our elections are going to be honorable and honest and people leave and they know their vote is counted.”

Trump also said, “Ideally, we go to paper ballots, same-day voting,” but did not set new requirements for either policy change he has championed since the 2020 election when he falsely claimed to have defeated former President Joe Biden.

Jacobs said she suspects the timing of the order is related to the April 1 spring election in Wisconsin when partisan control of the state Supreme Court is up for grabs.

More: All our reporting on the Wisconsin Supreme Court race between Susan Crawford, Brad Schimel

The court in 2020 ruled against Trump in a lawsuit he brought seeking to throw out thousands of ballots in an effort to overturn his election loss here.

Trump has endorsed conservative candidate Brad Schimel in the race, and days later former President Barack Obama backed liberal candidate Susan Crawford in the highly nationalized race.

“It feels like this is sort of being rushed out in advance of our April election. And I’m assuming that there’s a political reason for that,” Jacobs said. But Millis dismissed the idea, saying, “It would seem highly unlikely that the timing of this has any relationship to Wisconsin’s Supreme Court election next week.”

Molly Beck can be reached at molly.beck@jrn.com.