Madison, Wis. -- State officials have decided Wisconsin's new voter list is a public record, even if the multimillion-dollar list is not yet complete, and that means it can be provided to a consulting firm that sells voter information to candidates.

Practical Political Consulting of Michigan and Wisconsin sued the state Elections Board April 7 after the board would not give it a copy of the list.

The board contended the list was considered a draft, was incomplete and had not been checked for accuracy.

But the company argued that any type of list was public record. It has asked for lists of voters from the February primary and spring election earlier this month, as well as an updated version of the list.

A hearing on the dispute had been scheduled Monday in Dane County Circuit Court, but as Judge Maryann Sumi was about to start the hearing, lawyers for the two sides worked out a deal for the firm to drop the lawsuit if the board gives it the latest version of the list by May 15.

As part of the agreement worked out between Assistant Attorney General Maureen McGlynn Flanagan and the firm's lawyer, Jennifer Peterson, the state will not have to pay the firm's legal fees.

Like other states, Wisconsin was under a 2002 federal mandate to create a statewide voter database by Jan. 1, 2006. Wisconsin is one of many states that are behind schedule.

The list is designed to make it easier to track voters, prevent people from voting more than once and ensure that felons under state supervision do not vote.

But a voter list also provides candidates with valuable information to guide such things as campaign mailings, said Mark Grebner, owner of Practical Political Consulting.

Grebner, of East Lansing, Mich., said Tuesday evening that his company has compiled a Wisconsin voting list on its own for the past several years by gathering records from communities throughout the state. He said he needs access to the new state list to update the records with information from the latest elections.

The Elections Board's executive director, Kevin Kennedy, hasn't yet set a price for the list, Grebner said.

As for the price his company would charge for such a list, he said a candidate in a statewide race would have to pay his company anywhere from $50,000 to $100,000 for his list, while lists for smaller areas, such as congressional or legislative districts, would cost less, depending on the voting population.

Kennedy did not immediately return a call from The Associated Press seeking comment.

In developing the state list, Wisconsin opted not use its own employees but to contract the work out to a private firm, Accenture, based in Bermuda.

Other states, such as Wyoming, Kansas and Colorado, had opted to use Accenture, too, but went elsewhere when there were too many delays.

Wisconsin is the lone state still using the company.