A new state report says scores of 17-year-olds voted illegally in nearly 30 Wisconsin counties during last spring’s presidential primary, including one high school student in Fond du lac. Fond du lac city clerk Maggie Hefter says another 17 year old student in Fond du lac told a poll worker her high school history teacher told kids they could vote if they turned 18 by the November election. “She had mentioned that a local high school teacher told her as long as she was 18 prior to the November election that she could vote,” Hefter told WFDL news. “I do believe there are other states that allow people to vote in the primary if they are not 18. But in the state of Wisconsin you have to be 18 on or before election day.” Hefter says she doesn’t believe the students were intentionally committing voter fraud, but rather it was a case of being misinformed. Hefter says she contacted the state elections commission on election day to make sure. “I did on election day because I just wanted to make sure,” Hefter said. “They (Elections Commission) indicated they had received several calls from other clerks asking the same question.” The Wisconsin Elections Commission report examined referrals municipal clerks made to prosecutors following the 2016 spring primary and general elections. The referrals included at least 60 cases of 17-year-olds voting in the April primary in 29 counties. The report doesn’t track whether charges were filed. The report notes messages were spreading on social media during the primary season that 17-year-olds were eligible to vote if they turned 18 by the November election. That’s not the case in Wisconsin, but commission spokesman Reid Magney said a number of students looking to vote in an intense presidential primary here apparently believed it was legal.
