Gov. Tony Evers speaks at a press conference about his budget proposal for the Department of Corrections. Evers vetoed a bill that would have deprived Wisconsinites who finished serving their time for felonies of voting rights if they hadn't paid all their court fees and other obligations.. Photo by Baylor Spears/Wisconsin Examiner.

Gov. Tony Evers recently vetoed a Republican-sponsored bill, AB87/SB95, that would have suspended the right to vote for Wisconsinites convicted of a felony who have served their sentence until they fulfill outstanding court-order obligations, such as fines, costs, restitution or community service.

In Wisconsin, people who have served their criminal sentence for a felony, including incarceration and community service, parole, probation and extended supervision, are eligible to vote.

But the proposed legislation would have required any outstanding requirements – “fines, costs, fees, surcharges, and restitution [and] any court-ordered community service, imposed in connection with the crime” – to be addressed in full before voting rights were fully restored.

State Rep. Shae Sortwell, (R-Two Rivers) a sponsor of the bill, offered support in writing at the March 4, 2025 Assembly public hearing, saying the bill would “ensure justice is entirely served and full accountability is given to those that still owe a debt to their victims, especially those that are trafficked.” (The legislation also required restitution for victims of human trafficking as a condition.)

State Sen. Dan Feyen, (R- Fond Du Lac), a co-sponsor of the bill, said he supported the legislation “to make sure crime victims are justly compensated and the perpetrators of these crimes are held accountable for their action.”

However, in vetoing the proposed legislation, Evers said, “This bill would create additional barriers to make it harder for individuals who have completed their sentences to have their right to vote restored. My promise to Wisconsinites has always been that I will not sign legislation that makes it harder for eligible Wisconsinites to cast their ballot. I will continue to keep that promise.”

Mark Rice, Wisconsin transformational justice campaign coordinator at WISDOM, a faith-based organization that works to advance the rights of immigrants and formerly incarcerated people, said the issue is personal to him because he had his voting rights removed when he was sentenced for a felony.

“I couldn’t vote for several years after serving my prison sentence,” he said.

For those coming out of prison, said Rice, it is often difficult to secure employment and have the funds to pay off outstanding fees and restitution, and he doesn’t believe those struggling to integrate into society should face yet another obstacle to participate in civic life.

“We here at WISDOM have been organizing to expand voting rights for formerly incarcerated people for many years, and we thank Gov. Evers for vetoing a bill that would have amounted to voter suppression,” said Rice.

Marianne Oleson, operations director for Ex-incarcerated People Organizing (EXPO) of Wisconsin, also celebrated Evers’ veto.

“Governor Evers’ veto is a tremendous victory for EXPO, for the people we serve, and for democracy in Wisconsin,” Oleson said in a statement. “This bill would have imposed a modern-day poll tax, silencing thousands of Wisconsinites who have already completed their sentences simply because they could not afford to pay court costs or restitution.”

She added, “At EXPO, we believe the right to vote should never depend on the size of your bank account. Justice means restoring full citizenship and dignity to those who have paid their debt to society — not creating new barriers that keep them from participating in our democracy.”

The ACLU of Wisconsin has opposed the legislation since the March 4, 2025 public hearing.

“This proposal would create a modern-day poll tax in Wisconsin,” said the ACLU, and compared  the proposed legislation to a controversial Florida bill, SB 7066, that passed in 2019, which required “outstanding legal obligations” to be met before even allowing ex-felons the ability to register to vote.

The ACLU also warned that the state does not have a “centralized database” to accurately identify all outstanding obligations that would have to be met before voting is regained.

“This would make it nearly impossible for some individuals to determine what they owe, if anything, and whether they would be eligible to vote,” an  ACLU spokesperson said..

Jay Heck, executive director of Common Cause of Wisconsin, an organization supporting open and responsive government, also supported Evers’ veto.

“This measure had as its goal to make it more difficult for long marginalized communities in Wisconsin who are disproportionately Black, Indigenous, and other people of color, as well as people living in poverty and those with disabilities, to be able to exercise their right to vote,” Heck said in a statement.

He added, “This legislation didn’t make whole people who have survived crime; it just would have weakened democracy and put the right to vote out of reach through a poll tax – an outrageous and deeply unfair price tag on the freedom to vote.”

The Milwaukee County Courthouse (Photo by Isiah Holmes/Wisconsin Examiner)

Wisconsin Republicans are proposing a bill to stop paying judges who have been suspended in response to the arrest and suspension of Milwaukee County Judge Hannah Dugan. 

Dugan was indicted in May by a federal grand jury and has pleaded not guilty to charges that she impeded the arrest by federal agents of an immigrant who was appearing in her court room.  She was arrested by FBI agents in April.

Critics have condemned the arrest as an example of the Trump administration discouraging pushback to mass deportation efforts and a worrying sign for democracy. Federal and state Republicans have supported the arrest of Dugan, saying those who stand in the way of deportations should be arrested and that Dugan should resign or be removed.

The bill, cosponsored by Sen. Cory Tomczyk (R-Mosinee), Assembly Majority Leader Tyler August (R-Walworth) and Rep. Shae Sortwell (R-Two Rivers), would require that if the state Supreme Court imposes a suspension as proceedings are pending or as a disciplinary sanction due to misconduct, it must be without pay. 

The Wisconsin Supreme Court chose to suspend Dugan in April, saying it was in the public interest to relieve her of her duties for now. Dugan is still being paid her nearly $175,000 annual salary.

The lawmakers noted that Dugan’s trial was postponed from July 21 and may not take place until 2026. They said taxpayers will be paying for “an extended vacation” even as reserve judges have to fill in for her and they argued the bill is needed to stop suspended judges from getting paid in the future.

According to the Wisconsin Judicial Commission, 15 judges have been suspended by the Supreme Court from 1978 to 2024.

“In these rare circumstances, these judges’ actions and alleged misconduct rose to such a level that suspension was warranted,” the lawmakers said in a memo.  “Simply put, Wisconsin taxpayers must be protected from the misconduct and/or commission of a crime by rogue judges.”