Wisconsin Supreme Court Blocks Guardianship Voter Records

The Wisconsin Supreme Court on Tuesday blocked a conservative activist group from obtaining court records that identify individuals deemed ineligible to vote due to incompetency, ruling that state law protects the privacy of people under guardianship. The 5-2 decision ends a multi-year legal effort to cross-reference those records with voter rolls.

The case was brought by Ron Heuer and the Wisconsin Voter Alliance, who filed lawsuits in 13 counties in 2022. They sought "Notice of Voting Eligibility" forms, which courts send to election officials when a judge determines a person under guardianship lacks the capacity to understand elections and therefore loses voting rights. The group argued the records were needed to verify the accuracy of the state's voter registration list.

Writing for the majority, Justice Janet Protasiewicz stated that the legislature explicitly closed court records pertinent to findings of incompetency to protect vulnerable individuals. The forms are created as part of a guardianship case, she wrote, and thus are shielded from public disclosure. The majority included the court's four liberal justices and conservative Justice Brian Hagedorn.