"Voter ID and proof of citizenship are completely different things," said state Elections Commission spokesman Reid Magney.

Osmulski told the Wisconsin State Journal in an email that his "story never claimed the voter ID card can be used for registering."

"It clearly pointed out the voter ID card can only be used for voting, and the university issued that single-purpose card to a student who is ineligible to vote," he said.

He called the state’s voter ID law "the last line of defense against voter fraud, and by issuing voter ID cards to people ineligible to vote, the university is needlessly risking the integrity of our election process."

In one of the more than 75 comments on the MacIver story on its website, UW-Madison spokeswoman Meredith McGlone points out that the university ID can't be used to register to vote. The story had been shared more than 1,300 times on Facebook as of midday Tuesday, and MacIver sent it out via email and Twitter on Tuesday morning.

McGlone said the university hadn't previously been the target of accusations that its voter ID was allowing non-citizens to vote.