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(The Center Square) – Wisconsin’s voter ID law has had no negative impact on voter turnout in the state since it was fully implemented, according to a new report from the Wisconsin Institute for Law and Liberty.

Voter turnout, in fact, has slightly increased since the law went into effect. Wisconsin voters will vote on making voter ID a constitutional amendment April 1.

Democrats in the state have argued the amendment will disenfranchise voters.

The state’s current law, however, has had no negative impact on minority groups voting or Dane and Milwaukee counties.

The report found that socioeconomic factors such as poverty rates and education levels have a larger impact on voter turnout than voter ID laws.

“By analyzing decades of election data both before and after Wisconsin implemented Voter ID, we found a general rise in voter turnout, rather than the widespread disenfranchisement that critics often suggest,” said WILL Research Director Will Flanders. “Any claims suggesting Voter ID is ‘voter suppression’ are merely political scare tactics aimed at undermining faith in Wisconsin’s elections. Furthermore, it’s worth exploring whether Voter ID can actually increase turnout by strengthening confidence in Wisconsin’s election system.”

The research cited several studies that backed its conclusion across the country, with data showing that states with voter ID laws don’t have significantly different turnout than those without the law.

It also cited a Wisconsin study after the 2016 election where 1.7% said they didn’t vote because they didn’t have adequate ID while 1.4% said they were told at the polls that their ID was not adequate.

“It is well known among political scientists that individuals have a tendency to lie to pollsters regarding whether they voted or not,” the report said. “One key explanation for this is what is known as social desirability bias. In general, people do not want to ‘look bad’ to pollsters. As such, they may lie to the pollster about things that are perceived as socially undesirable, such as refraining from voting.”

Instead, WILL’s report looked at aggregate data of turnout change in the state and in key counties such as Dane and Milwaukee.

The study found that voter turnout has increased by 1.5%, on average, in the state since the law was implemented.

“This is an interesting result,” the report said. “While it is likely too large of a leap to say voter ID has increased turnout due to the correlational nature of our analysis, it seems that there is no negative relationship.”

(The Center Square) – Republicans at the Wisconsin Capitol continue to move through their to-do list. The latest was a slate of bills focusing on public safety.

The Assembly on recently approved:

● K9 Riggs Act – Increases penalties for causing injury to law enforcement animals. The bill is named after Kenosha County Sheriff Department K9 Riggs, who was shot by a criminal. Riggs survived and is now in retirement.

● Prosecution Reform – Requires approval from the court before prosecutors can dismiss serious charges.

● Parental Notification – Ensures parents are promptly notified of sexual misconduct in school.

● Criminal Case Database – Creates a new database of crimes in Wisconsin.

● Reckless Driving Crackdown – Allows for the impoundment of vehicles used in reckless driving offenses.

● Parole Revocation – Revokes extended supervision, parole, or probation if a person is charged with a new crime.

● Child Trafficking Penalties – Imposes life imprisonment for the crime of trafficking multiple children and requires restitution be paid to the victims.

● Theft Crimes – Increases the penalties for certain retail theft crimes.

● School Resource Officers – Ensures officers are put back into Milwaukee Schools.

“Cracking down on crime shouldn’t be a partisan issue, but in Madison, it has increasingly become so,” Assembly Majority Leader Tyler August said after Thursday’s votes.

Rep. Amanda Nedweski, R-Pleasant Prairie, authored the K9 Riggs Act, which was named after a Kenoha police dog who was shot and wounded by a suspect back in 2021.

“Riggs’s heroism united the community, galvanizing support for local law enforcement just a year after rioters in Kenosha protested against them,” Nedweski added. “These dogs are not only invaluable members of the department; they are also family to their partners.”

But not every lawmaker was on board with the Republicans' public safety slate.

Milwaukee Rep. Ryan Clancy, D-Milwaukee, called the legislation "misleading and misguided."

“Once again, the Wisconsin legislature was forced to spend our time and resources considering badly written, badly conceived bills that will harm people and waste public resources," Clancy said in a statement. "It’s wildly irresponsible to even consider increasing penalties and interfering with the very few tools of leniency we have with a prison system holding 5,000 more people than intended. But here we are."

The slate of legislation will head to the Senate.

U.S. Rep. Riley Moore, R-WV, filed a bill on Friday to ban Chinese nationals from receiving student visas.

“Every year we allow nearly 300,000 Chinese nationals to come to the U.S. on student visas. We’ve literally invited the CCP to spy on our military, steal our intellectual property, and threaten national security. Just last year, the FBI charged five Chinese nationals here on student visas after they were caught photographing joint US-Taiwan live fire military exercises. This cannot continue,” he said.

Moore’s Stop Chinese Communist Prying by Vindicating Intellectual Safeguards in Academia Act (Stop CCP VISAs Act) has several cosponsors. The bill would amend the Immigration and Nationality Act to prohibit the admission of Chinese nationals as nonimmigrant students, according to the bill language.

He points to the FBI last year charging five Chinese nationals who were in the U.S. on student visas at the University of Michigan after they were caught photographing joint US-Taiwan live fire military exercises at Camp Grayling in August 2023 claiming they were members of the media.

He also points to a Chinese student attending the University of Minnesota who was sentenced to six months in prison last October for taking drone photographs of naval shipbuilding operations at Newport News Shipbuilding in Norfolk, Virginia. Moore also points to a former Illinois Institute of Technology graduate who was sentenced to eight years in prison in 2023 for spying for the Chinese government, acting as an agent of China’s Ministry of State Security and making a material false statement to the U.S. Army when he enlisted in the U.S. Army Reserve.

“Congress needs to end China’s exploitation of our student visa program. It’s time we turn off the spigot and immediately ban all student visas going to Chinese nationals,” he said.

These are but a handful of examples. More than 60 Chinese Communist Party-related cases of espionage and acts of transnational repression were reported in 20 states under the Biden administration, according to a U.S. House Committee on Homeland Security report, The Center Square reported. That’s in addition to 224 reported incidents of Chinese espionage directed at the U.S. between 2000 and 2023, according to the report. Examples include transmission of sensitive military information to the People’s Republic of China (PRC), theft of U.S. trade secrets to benefit the PRC, transnational repression schemes to target PRC dissidents and obstruction of justice.

Other examples include a Department of Justice case from last December involving a Chinese national and lawful permanent resident of California who was arrested for flying a drone over Vandenberg Space Force Base and taking photographs. He was arrested for violating national defense airspace prior to boarding a flight to China.

Another DOJ case related to a Chinese national illegally living in the U.S. who was arrested for allegedly shipping weapons and ammunition to North Korea, The Center Square reported.

Another involved a PRC spy arrested in California who worked for a state lawmaker and Chinese operatives arrested in Guam near a U.S. military installation on the same day as a live ballistic missile interception test, The Center Square reported.

Outgoing FBI Director Christopher Wray’s parting warning to Americans was that China remains one of the greatest threats to U.S. national security, a warning he consistently issued.

“The greatest long-term threat facing our country, in my view, is represented by the People’s Republic of China, the Chinese government, which I consider to be the defining threat of our generation,” he said, The Center Square reported.

The DOJ says it opens new cases to counter PRC intelligence operations roughly every 12 hours. Of the espionage cases it's prosecuted since 2018, it says 80% allege the PRC would benefit; 60% of trade secret theft cases are linked to China.

It also lists examples of indictments of Chinese nationals conspiring to and committing economic espionage and theft of trade secrets going back to 2018 under the Trump administration.

PRC threats increased as the greatest number of Chinese nationals illegally entered the U.S. in recorded history under the Biden administration – more than 176,000 nationwide, The Center Square first reported.

Illegal border crossings dropped to their lowest level for the month of February in recorded history, according to the latest U.S. Customs and Border Protection data.

In February, 28,654 encounters and apprehensions of illegal border crossers were reported nationwide – a roughly 90% drop from the number reported in previous Februarys under the Biden administration.

In February 2024, 256,071 were reported compared to 213,911 in February 2023 and 250,404 in February 2022.

At the southwest border, 11,709 illegal border crossers were encountered or apprehended last month, significantly down from 189,913 in February 2024; 156,630 inl 2023; and 166,010 in 2022.

At the northern border, 4,098 illegal border crossers were encountered or apprehended last month, down from 14,653 in February 2024; from 13,052 in February 2023; and 7,822 in 2022.

The majority apprehended were single adults, followed by individuals claiming to be in a family unit, and unaccompanied minors.

Nationwide, Border Patrol apprehensions between ports of entry averaged roughly 330 a day in February, the lowest nationwide average apprehensions in CBP history.

At the southwest border, apprehensions plunged to fewer than 300 a day. Border Patrol agents apprehended 8,347 illegal border crossers between ports of entry, CBP said, representing a 94% decrease from February 2024.

CBP Office of Field Operations agents encountered 3,362 inadmissible illegal foreign nationals at ports of entry along the southwest border last month, a 93% drop from February 2024, according to the data.

The reason for the drop, CBP says, is because President Donald Trump and Department of Homeland Secretary Kristi Noem “have sent a clear message: if you cross the border illegally, you will be deported without an opportunity to try another day, or in a few hours. As a result, CBP encounters with illegal aliens have decreased dramatically.”

Illegal border crossings also dropped after U.S. military troops were deployed to the southwest border and active patrols increased.

Contrary to former DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, who created a CBP One mobile app to fast-track inadmissible illegal foreign nationals into the U.S., the Trump administration launched a new mobile app to help facilitate departures.

The new CBP Home mobile app allows unlawfully present foreign nationals or those with revoked parole to voluntarily notify the federal government of their plan to leave the U.S. The app was designed to help them comply with an executive order Trump issued, “Protecting the American People Against Invasion,” CBP says, to ensure “an orderly process for aliens to communicate their departure plans.”

Additionally, in the first week of March, CBP began taking down soft-sided facilities used to process illegal border crossers into the U.S. under the Biden administration. Doing so is saving taxpayers between $5 million and $30 million a month per facility.

“CBP no longer has a need for them as illegal aliens are being quickly removed,” CBP acting director Pete Flores said. CBP has “full capability to manage the detention of apprehended aliens in its permanent facilities.”

CBP plans to close three SSFs in Texas – Donna, North Eagle Pass and Laredo; and two in Arizona: Yuma and Tucson. SSFs in San Diego, Calif., and El Paso, Texas, currently remain open.

Manpower and other resources that had been diverted to SSFs are being redirected to other priorities “to speed CBP’s progress in gaining operational control over the southwest border,” Flores said.

Additionally, agents who were pulled from their regular duties or stations in other areas of the country who were assigned to the SSFs are returning to their primary enforcement duties, CBP said.

The University of Virginia has shuttered its diversity, equity, and inclusion office as it along with other schools across the nation respond to the Trump administration’s termination of what he says are illegal DEI practices.

“The University's Office of Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Community Partnerships is hereby dissolved,” the University of Virginia Board of Visitors’ resolution obtained by The Center Square reads.

The resolution said that UVA’s move is following the Department of Education’s Dear Colleague letter. The letter stated that race-based decisions in education are illegal, and if schools don’t comply they may face loss of federal funding.

Schools across the nation have been responding both to the Dear Colleague letter and Trump’s Jan. 20 executive order entitled “Ending Radical And Wasteful Government DEI Programs And Preferencing,” along with other orders.

Trump’s order calls for the “termination of all discriminatory programs, including illegal DEI and ‘diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility’ (DEIA) mandates, policies, programs, preferences, and activities in the Federal Government, under whatever name they appear.”

A University of Virginia spokesman told The Center Square that, “in accordance with the [board’s] resolution, the administration will review the functions of the [DEI] office, and all personnel and programs that are permissible under state and federal law will be transferred within the University, within 30 days.”

“We will provide additional information as those efforts proceed,” the spokesman said.

Ohio State University also announced the closing of its Office of Diversity and Inclusion, The Center Square previously reported.

When reached again, assistant vice president for media and public relations Benjamin Johnson told The Center Square that OSU’s “review is ongoing” and that there are no new updates.

The University of Cincinnati told of its plan to evaluate its DEI programs and remove DEI-related material from its websites in a message from President Neville Pinto to the UC Community.

UC did not respond to multiple requests for comment.

East Carolina University no longer requires DEI-related graduation requirements, according to WITN. When asked multiple times for comment, ECU did not respond.

The University of Michigan, the University of Washington, the University of California, and Cornell previously told The Center Square they were evaluating, reviewing, or monitoring the executive order.

Of the four schools, only U-M and UW responded when asked for any updates on their responses.

U-M referred The Center Square to the school’s federal order response update page. According to the webpage, U-M is still monitoring federal activity.

UW spokesman Victor Balta told The Center Square the school received notification of an investigation into dozens of universities from the Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights, with UW being one of the schools.

The investigation concerns schools that are still making race-based decisions or are in partnership with organizations that make them, according to an Education Department news release.

“We are reviewing [the department’s notification] carefully,” Balta said.

“We will, of course, cooperate with any investigation and provide factual information and responses,” Balta said. “We have no further comment at this time.”

The University of Arizona is also assessing federal updates and previously removed the phrase “committed to diversity and inclusion” from its land acknowledgment as well as took down some DEI-related webpages, The Center Square reported.

Similarly, Columbia removed DEI language from parts of its website and took down some DEI-related web pages, The Center Square reported.

Columbia previously referred The Center Square to a “University statements page for latest updates and public statements on ongoing issues,” when reached for comment. The page does not mention Trump’s January 20 DEI executive order.

Columbia did not respond when reached again in regards to any updates concerning its response to the executive order.

Brown University referred The Center Square to a message saying the school is evaluating “all federal activity related to higher education.”

Both Slippery Rock University and Pennsylvania Western University, California referred The Center Square to Pennsylvania’s State System of Higher Education (PASSHE), of which they are both members.

“We are working with our legal counsel to monitor executive orders and additional guidance that may – or may not – impact our universities,” PASSHE director of media relations Kevin Hensil told The Center Square.

“That process is still in the early stages, and we will follow the law,” Hensil said.

Michigan State University and University of Washington School of Medicine each previously told The Center Square they intend to continue their normal operations – which would evidently include those involving DEI – when asked for their responses.

Case Western Reserve, UC Irvine School of Medicine, Johns Hopkins University, and NYU each previously told The Center Square they had no comment regarding their respective responses to the order, with UC Irvine SOM saying it may have more information “as we learn more.” None of the schools provided updates to their responses when requested.

The following schools have not yet provided comment after repeated requests concerning their individual responses to the executive order:

HarvardStanfordDukeYalePennNorthwestern UniversityThe University of ChicagoBoston UniversityEmory UniversityMayo Clinic School of MedicineUC San DiegoIndiana UniversityThe University of PittsburghCommunity College of Allegheny CountyUniversity of FloridaFlorida State University

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(The Center Square) – Democrat Rebecca Cooke announce Tuesday she intends to run against U.S. Rep. Derrick Van Orden, R-Third Congressional, in 2026.

Van Orden defeated Cooke with 51.4% of the vote in the western Wisconsin district by a nearly 11,200 vote margin. The district includes La Crosse and Eau Claire.

“Last November, we won the trust of voters across the party spectrum and nearly sent a farm kid to Washington,” Cooke said while announcing she would run. “We need more working class voices like ours who will fight like hell to build back the middle class.”

Van Orden was a Navy SEAL and senior chief petty officer during his 26 years of service and recently received the 2025 Congressional award from the Veterans of Foreign Wars for his advocacy for veterans.

“Two-time loser Rebecca Cooke is making a third attempt at running for Congress after losing to Derrick Van Orden. 2026 will be no different — Western Wisconsin voters will reject two-faced Cooke’s radical far-left views,” Wisconsin GOP Chairman Brian Schimming said in a statement.

The National Republican Congressional Committee noted several stories about Cooke showing that she did political work before she ran for Congress, saying she claims to be a political outsider but is not.

“Certified loser Rebecca Cooke was already rejected by Wisconsinites twice and will lose again in 2026,” NRCC Spokesman Zach Bannon. “Voters are well aware that she is nothing more than a sleazy political activist who remains out-of-touch with Western Wisconsin.”

More than $128 million of federal taxpayer money was spent on at least 341 grants to fund gender ideology initiatives under the Biden administration, according to an analysis of federal data by the American Principles Project.

In, “Funding Insanity: Federal Spending on Gender Ideology under Biden-Harris,” APP says it “found how the federal government has been spending hundreds of millions of YOUR MONEY on the Gender Industrial Complex!”

APP says it identified the grants by searching the USA Spending database. The data, which is available for free, is categorized by federal agency; notable grants are highlighted.

The U.S. Health and Human Services Department awarded the greatest amount of funding totaling nearly $84 million through 60 grants.

The Department of State awarded the greatest number of grants, 209, totaling more than $14 million, according to the data.

Other agencies awarding taxpayer-funded gender ideology grants include:

U.S. Agency for International Development, nearly $18 million through 8 grants;National Endowment for the Humanities, more than $2.6 million through 20 grants;Department of Justice, $1.9 million through three grants;Institute of Museum and Library Services, $1.87 million through 13 grants;Department of Education, $1.67 million through two grants;Department of Agriculture, $1.6 million through five grants;Department of the Interior, more than 1,000,000 awarded through two grants;U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, more than $548,000 through 4 grants;Inter-American Foundation, more than $490,000 through two grants;National Endowment for the Arts, $262,000 through 13 grants.

APP also identified 63 federal agency contracts totaling more than $46 million that promote gender ideology. They include total obligated amounts and the number of contracts per agency.

The majority, $31 million, was awarded through USAID. The next greatest amount of $4.4 million was awarded through the Department of Defense.

The Trump administration has taken several approaches to gut USAID, which has been met with litigation. The Department of Defense and other agencies are also under pressure to cut funding and reduce redundancies.

Notable grants include:

$3.9 million to Key Populations Consortium Uganda for promoting “the safety, agency, well-being and the livelihoods of LGBTQI+ in Uganda;”$3.5 million to Outright International for “the Alliance for Global Equality and its mission to promote LGBTQI+ people in priority countries around the world;”$2.4 million to the International Rescue Committee for “inclusive consideration of sexual orientation, gender identity, and sexual characteristics in humanitarian assistance;”$1.9 million to the American Bar Association to “shield the LGBTQI+ population in the Western Balkans;”$1.4 million for “economic empowerment of and opportunity for LGBTQI+ people in Serbia;”$1.49 million to Equality for All Foundation, Jamaica to “Strengthen community support structures to upscale LGBT rights advocacy;”More than $1 million to Bandhu Social Welfare Society to support gender diverse people in Bangladesh.

One of the grants identified by APP, which has since been cancelled, was $600,000 from the U.S. Department of Agriculture to Southern University Agricultural & Mechanical College in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, to study menstruation and menopause, including in biological men.

According to a description of the grant summary, funding would support research, extension, and teaching to address “growing concerns and issues surrounding menstruation, including the potential health risks posed to users of synthetic feminine hygiene products (FHP);” advancing research in the development of FHP that use natural materials and providing menstrual hygiene management; producing sustainable feminine hygiene sanitary products using natural fibers; providing a local fiber processing center for fiber growers in Louisiana, among others.

It states that menstruation begins in girls at roughly age 12 and ends with menopause at roughly age 51. “A woman will have a monthly menstrual cycle for about 40 years of her life averaging to about 450 periods over the course of her lifetime,” but adds: “It is also important to recognize that transgender men and people with masculine gender identities, intersex and non-binary persons may also menstruate.”

All federal funding was allocated to state agencies through the approval of Congress when it voted to pass continuing resolutions to fund the federal government and approved agency budgets.

(The Center Square) – An audit of Wisconsin’s 2024 general election found no errors from its electronic voting system.

The audit included a review of 327,230 ballots statewide, around 10% of the total votes, that were counted by hand to ensure the electronic system had accurately counted the votes.

Previous audits included counting 145,000 ballots from the 2020 election and 222,075 from 2022.

The audit began immediately after the 2024 election.

“The municipal clerks, county clerks, election inspectors, and volunteers who completed these audits should be commended for their work and for their continued dedication to secure and accurate elections,” said WEC Administrator Meagan Wolfe.

The audit concluded that there were no issues in the ballot counting.

“They found no election equipment changed votes from one candidate to another, incorrectly tabulated votes, or altered the outcome of any audited contest,” the audit said. “Additionally, there was no evidence of programming errors, unauthorized alterations or hacking of voting equipment software, or malfunctions of voting equipment that altered the outcome of any races on the ballot.”

The audit found that there were five errors on the machines that had to be corrected throughout the state with three creases and a tear near an oval in Franklin being read as overvotes along with one smudge apiece in Antigo and Mukwonago leading to an error for an overvote.

“In total, 593 human errors were recorded in the administration of the 2024 post-election voting equipment audit,” the audit said. “While human factors may not be relevant to the federal definition of an error, they still inform the WEC of opportunities for improvement through additional training, procedural changes, or other actions.”

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