Disabled Voters in Wisconsin Say Election Clerks Not Following the Rules Regarding Absentee Ballots

Monday, March 27th, 2023 -- 9:00 AM

(AP) Disabled voters say local election leaders across Wisconsin are not following federal law during early voting in the high-stakes race for state Supreme Court, incorrectly telling them they can’t have another person return their absentee ballot for them.

Absentee ballots, and who can return them, has been a political flashpoint in battleground Wisconsin, known for razor-thin margins in statewide races. The April 4 election will determine majority control of the state Supreme Court, with abortion access and the fate of Republican-drawn legislative maps on the line.

Challenges to laws and practices in at least eight states that make it difficult or impossible for people with certain disabilities to vote have also arisen in the past two years. At the same time, there has been a push in many states to restrict rules affecting who can return absentee ballots.

Wisconsin Republicans successfully sued last year to ban absentee ballot drop boxes, and the conservative-controlled state Supreme Court ruled that only the voter can return their ballot in person or place it in the mail.

People with disabilities filed a federal lawsuit in response to the state court’s decision, arguing that federal law allows them to get assistance in returning their ballot.

A federal court ruled in their favor in August, noting that the Voting Rights Act applies to Wisconsin voters who require assistance with mailing or delivering their absentee ballot because of a disability.

But in the lead-up to the April 4 Supreme Court election, and during early voting that began Tuesday, local elections officials are not following the law, advocates for the disabled allege.

Absentee ballots were mailed to voters earlier this month and early, in-person voting using absentee ballots began on Tuesday. The Wisconsin Elections Commission, which oversees the state’s more than 1,800 local elections officials, first alerted clerks in September to the federal court ruling reiterating that disabled voters can have assistance returning absentee ballots.

In recent weeks, the commission has reminded them of the law in conversations, webinar trainings, and newsletters, commission spokesperson Riley Vetterkind said Friday.

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