Voters prohibited from spoiling absentee ballots, Waukesha Co. judge rules

 

WAUKESHA Wis. (CBS 58) -- If you already returned your absentee ballot, you can no longer spoil that ballot and request a new one after a ruling by Waukesha County judge.

Restoring Integrity and Trust in Elections filed a lawsuit on behalf of a Brookfield voter challenging guidance issued on Aug. 1 by the state elections commission advising clerks how to void an absentee ballot if a voter files a request, known as ballot spoiling.

Waukesha County Judge Brad Schimel, the former Republican attorney general under the Walker administration, granted the group a victory after they argued it's illegal to cast another ballot if you already voted.

Leading up to the August primary, clerks reminded voters they could spoil their absentee ballot after a Republican gubernatorial candidate Kevin Nicholson and three Democratic contenders in the U.S. Senate race dropped out, but their names remained on the ballot.

Claire Woodall-Vogg, the executive director of the Milwaukee Election Commission, said in a statement to CBS 58 she believes the ruling won't stand because "state statute is very clear on absentee voters having the right to spoil and be issued new ballots."

The decision comes less than five weeks before the midterm and marks yet another court ruling changing the rules regarding absentee voting.

University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Professor Emeritus Mordecai Lee said judges typically don't make these types of decisions leading up to an election, but he said it appears that's no longer the case.

"What we're seeing now is election administrators have to hustle at the last minute and play catch up and say whoops, the rules of the game just changed, then a week later oops another rule change," said Lee.

"I'm afraid the last few decisions we've seen have been hemming the voters in and hemming election workers so there's less and less room for just an unintentional error."

Two pending lawsuits are challenging whether clerks can fill in missing address information, such as a zip code on sealed absentee ballot envelopes. A hearing on one of the suits is scheduled for Friday in Dane County court.

It comes after a judge ruled last month WEC guidance allowing clerks to cure absentee ballot certificates was illegal.