The Wisconsin Elections Commission (WEC) has found probable cause to believe that Sheboygan County Clerk Jon Dolson violated state law by intentionally accessing and sharing a voter record containing protected personal information.
In a September 10, 2026, letter to the parties involved, obtained by The Kohler Villager, the commission cited Wis. Stat. §§ 6.36(1)(b)1.a. and 12.13(2)(b)7. Wisconsin law restricts access to certain voter information, including dates of birth and driver's license numbers.
The incident stemmed from Sheboygan activist Lisa Salgado objecting to the appointment of Jamie McDonald, who maintains residences in both Sheboygan and Verona, to the Sheboygan Board of Zoning Appeals, an unpaid volunteer position. McDonald had also corrected Salgado on the Nextdoor neighborhood app regarding city development issues.
Salgado and other activists began collecting information about McDonald and posting screenshots in a Sheboygan Facebook group Salgado administered, hoping to prove McDonald didn’t meet the appointment’s residency requirements. One screenshot, which Salgado described as a public record, showed a partially redacted voter record containing McDonald's date of birth and driver's license number—information protected from public disclosure under Wisconsin law and accessible through WisVote only to authorized election officials.
A complaint regarding the voter record was filed with the WEC, whose investigation traced access to the voter record to Dolson. According to the commission's decision, Dolson acknowledged intentionally accessing and sharing the elector's WisVote record in an effort "to try and resolve a neighborhood dispute."
Salgado, McDonald, and Dolson all own homes in Sheboygan’s Ellis District neighborhood. Dolson, who serves as the lead volunteer neighborhood moderator on the Nextdoor app, posted comments questioning McDonald's Sheboygan residency. He also sent a private message to fellow volunteer reviewers urging them to remove McDonald from the platform. Five of the seven reviewers voted against her removal.
As a result of its findings, the commission suspended Dolson's access to WisVote for at least 120 days. His access may be reviewed after that period or upon a request for reinstatement. Before regaining access to the statewide voter database, Dolson must complete training prescribed by the WisVote administrator.
The commission also referred the matter to the Sheboygan County District Attorney's Office, which subsequently referred the case to a district attorney in another county for a determination on whether criminal charges should be filed.
According to the WEC letter, a violation of Wis. Stat. § 12.13(2)(b)7 constitutes a Class I felony, punishable by up to three years and six months of imprisonment, a fine of up to $10,000, or both.
The Wisconsin Department of Justice is also investigating the incident, and no charges have been filed as of yet.
In Wisconsin, the office of county clerk is an elected position responsible for overseeing county elections, maintaining official county government records, supporting the County Board, and performing several administrative and financial duties. Dolson was elected as County Clerk in 2012 after winning a Republican primary, then ran unopposed in 2016, 2020, and 2024.
In April, 2025, Dolson took responsibility for an error in an unofficial vote tally that mistakenly included votes from the Village of Kohler in the Sheboygan Falls School District referendum results. The error initially made it appear that the referendum had passed.
Text from The Kohler Villager