Wisconsin received high marks from a political advocacy organization on state voting practices Tuesday in a report detailing how prepared 10 swing states are for the presidential election in November. 

Each state was judged independently from the other and separated in three tiers: good, middle and poor. 

The seven battleground states of Wisconsin, Florida, Georgia, Michigan, Missouri, Ohio and Pennsylvania were joined by three new possible swing states — Colorado, New Mexico and Virginia — to make up this year’s report.

Of the ten states, Wisconsin was the only state ranked in the highest of the three tiers. 

Colorado, Michigan, Missouri, Ohio, New Mexico and Pennsylvania were in the middle state category. Florida, Georgia and Virginia were in the poor category. 

Common Cause, a nonpartisan group, published the report “Voting in 2008: Ten Swing States” in conjunction with the Century Foundation. The two organizations examined improvements made by the states since the previous report in 2006. 

Samuel Oliker-Friedland, a co-author of the report, said they gathered their information several different ways, including examining studies done by other organizations, personal interviews and news articles. 

“We want to give people a heads up of what might go wrong in an election and what’s on track to go right,” Oliker-Friedland said.

Researchers looked at a variety of election factors, including voter registration, voting machine allocation, student voting rights and the use of deceptive practices — such as distributing false information about voting. 

Each state earned a rating in these and other areas, ranging from exemplary to unsatisfactory. 

“Wisconsin did get a great review,” Oliker-Friedland said. “One area lacking was laws to prevent outside groups from challenging voter’s eligibility in a polling place.”

Currently, it is legal in Wisconsin for election inspectors and other voters to challenge someone if they believe that person is ineligible to vote. This practice is usually used in an organized way to target specific groups and prevent them from voting, according to the report.

Wisconsin received an exemplary rating for student voting rights due to voters being able to register the day of the election. Students attending universities in Wisconsin can use their school identification at the polling place to vote after living in the state for a minimum of 10 days. 

Oliker-Friedland said Common Cause worked with state governments and election boards while compiling the report. It concludes with nine pages of recommendations to lawmakers for ways their state’s voting system weaknesses can be fixed. 

“We think many of the recommendations we’re making are fairly self-explanatory and easy steps to take,” Oliker-Friedland said. “Realistically, everything we suggest isn’t going to get taken up before November.”

Sen. Fred Risser, D-Madison, said he supports any actions that would bring out the vote in Wisconsin. 

He said the state has had a good voting practice record in the past, partially due to the type of ballots used. Voters leave a paper trail, making it easier to recount votes if needed.

“Wisconsin is one of the best states in the union regarding the authenticity of the vote,” Risser said. “We have what I consider to be one of the best voting records in the country.”

But Rep. Scott Suder, R-Abbotsford, disagreed. He said the report leaves out major flaws in Wisconsin’s voting system, including requiring a certain amount of identification to vote in order to protect against identity theft and stop ineligible voters from voting.

“We want more people at the ballot box, but we want to make sure they are who they claim to be,” Suder said.