The Sconi

Following a contentious and controversial 2020 presidential election, many Republican-lead states are weighing election integrity measures to instill confidence in the vote. 

Despite many independent agencies saying that the 2020 election was as free and fair as any other election in U.S. history, many citizens are still concerned about election integrity, undoubtedly in part due to former President Donald Trump's unfounded claims that the election was "stolen" from him. 

Still, polls show that moderate voters in Wisconsin and the rest of the country support election integrity measures such as more strict requirements on voting and voter ID laws. 

According to the Solutions Project, 72% of Wisconsin voters support minimum penalties for those intentionally spreading false election procedure information, 68% support mandating that ballot escort teams have members from both political parties, 66% support auditing the votes of every single election to ensure vote counts, 65% support questionable ballots being reviewed by a bipartisan committee and using a majority vote to disqualify ballots, and 64% support validating Wisconsin absentee ballots seven days before the votes are counted and tallied.

According to a new study from the Frontier Center, Wisconsin voters are not seeking election integrity measures as a result of Trump’s false claims of mass ballot fraud. Rather, Wisconsin natives seek voter confidence measures for four reasons: the promotion of freedom, respect for the votes of a community, peace of mind and the continuance of American exceptionalism.

The Frontier Center found that “Wisconsinites who strongly support addressing Election Fraud are [more] focused on gauging the character, urgency of action and responsiveness of their elected and unelected leaders as they relate to Election Fraud than on correcting rearward-looking outcomes.”

In the words of Anne Segal, Founder of the Frontier Center, “Voting is about more than seeing their choice prevail — it is a way to serve their country and provides a thrill of citizenship (empowerment and agency associated with your rights) that serves to counter demoralization about other institutions’ failures. Pursuing reform against a backdrop of fraud secures a heightened feeling of that empowerment associated with citizenship.”

There were 41 suspected cases of voter fraud in Wisconsin between Aug. 22, 2020, and May 19, 2021, according to the Wisconsin Elections Commission. The Commission identified potential matches between Wisconsin voters and voters in 29 other states along with Washington, D.C. These potential matches mean that voters may have voted in both Wisconsin and one or more of the other states identified.

More than half of the suspected cases of voter fraud occurred in La Crosse and were due to voters registering with the address of a UPS store. More than three million residents voted in the November election.