The Wisconsin Elections Commission has deactivated over 192,000 voter registrations through the legally required four-year maintenance process, according to an Aug. 1 press release.
The 192,369 individuals deactivated had not voted in the past four years and did not respond to mailing regarding their registration status, said Meagan Wolfe, WEC’s administrator.
The commission is required by Wisconsin law to conduct voter record maintenance every two years to identify individuals and deactivate their registration status unless they notify their clerk with a desire to remain registered.
Wolfe said maintenance review helps ensure the integrity of the state’s voter database. She said individuals whose registration status is deactivated must re-register to vote at their current residence and can no longer vote using their inactive record.
“Maintaining accurate voter rolls is a year-round priority,” Wolfe said in the release. “Through the four-year maintenance process and ongoing collaboration with local election officials, we ensure that the voter registration database reflects current, eligible voters by deactivating those who have moved, passed away, or have otherwise become inactive.”
In June, WEC identified over 202,000 registered individuals with no voting record since the November 2020 presidential election. The commission sent “Notice of Suspension” postcards to these individuals, asking if they would like to remain active on the statewide voter list.
Of the 202,000 postcards mailed, 9,501 voters responded by mailing a return postcard to their municipal clerk indicating they wanted to remain active. Voters who did not respond or whose postcard was returned as undeliverable were deactivated from the list.
2025 numbers are higher than past three counts
There hasn’t been a consistent uptick in deactivation numbers in recent years, but the 192,000-plus voter registrations deactivated in 2025 is greater than the 2023, 2021 and 2019 totals.
In 2023, the number of voter registrations deactivated was 108,378. That year, 116,051 notices were mailed.
In 2021, 186,982 voter registrations were deactivated and 174,307 notices were mailed.
In 2019, 113,314 registrations were deactivated. 95,939 notices were mailed to voters.
Numbers from 2025 four-year voter record maintenance:
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Total number of notices mailed: 202,593
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Number of notices that were returned requesting continuation of registration: 9,501
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Number of notices that were returned as undeliverable: 50,463
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Number of voters mailed a notice who requested cancellation of registration: 13
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Number of voters mailed a notice who clerks determined to be deceased: 657
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Number of voters mailed a notice who clerks deactivated for reasons other than being deceased or at the voter’s request: 744
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Number of duplicate voter records identified and merged together: 358
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Number of voters who did not respond to the notice: 142,629
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Total number of voters mailed a notice whose status changed from eligible to ineligible: 192,369
Contact Mia Thurow at mthurow@gannett.com.
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Wisconsin Elections Commission deactivates roughly 192,000 voters
