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Does Wisconsin have more registered voters than adults?
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No.
Wisconsin doesnβt have more registered voters than the adult population.
The claim, recently recirculated by President Donald Trump, combines two voter lists to misrepresent the number of active, eligible voters in Wisconsin.Β Β Β Β Β
Wisconsinβs adult population is around 4.8 million, according to Jan. 1 estimates from the state Demographic Services Center.
On Feb. 1, Wisconsin had around 3.6 million active, registered voters, according to the Wisconsin Elections Commission.Β
The state has 4.6 million inactive voters on a separate list. Voters move to the inactive list if they die, move to a new state or are convicted of a felony, for example.
Adding those two numbers produces a total of 8.2 million, more than the stateβs total population.
State law requires an inactive list for record-keeping purposes. Plus, it helps clerks prevent fraud by catching someone registering under a dead personβs name, for example.
This fact brief is responsive to conversations such as this one.
Sources
- Wisconsin Elections Commission: February 1, 2026 Voter Registration Statistics
- Wisconsin Elections Commission: FAQs
- Wisconsin Demographic Services Center: Official Final Estimates, 1/1/2025
Does Wisconsin have more registered voters than adults? is a post from Wisconsin Watch, a non-profit investigative news site covering Wisconsin since 2009. Please consider making a contribution to support our journalism.
