State Judge Refuses to Put on Hold Ruling Allowing Disabled Voters to be Emailed Absentee Ballots

Friday, August 2nd, 2024 -- 11:01 AM

(AP) A judge refused Thursday to put on hold his ruling that allows disabled people in Wisconsin to be emailed absentee ballots at home in November’s presidential election in the closely watched battleground state.

Republicans asked the judge to not enforce his ruling while their appeal is pending. But Dane County Circuit Judge Everett Mitchell on Thursday rejected their arguments, saying putting his ruling on hold “would inflict significant harm on both the disability rights advocates and the public interest.”

It will now be up to the state appeals court to decide whether to pause the ruling that opens up a new way for an unknown number of disabled voters to cast their ballots in swing state Wisconsin before the Nov. 5 election.

Mitchell granted a temporary injunction on June 25 that allows clerks to email ballots to voters who self-certify that they can’t read or mark a paper ballot without help. The voters can then cast their ballots electronically at home using devices that help them read and write independently. The voters are still required to then print and mail the ballots back to the clerks or return them in person.

Other absentee voters can request ballots electronically, but they are then sent in the mail and not electronically. Voters then physically mark the paper ballots before returning them in person or via the mail.

Previously, state law allowed ballots to be transmitted electronically only to voters in the military or those overseas. All absentee ballots have to be received by clerks before the polls close on Nov. 5 in order to be counted.

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