Overview
- Dane County Circuit Judge David Conway ruled Wednesday that Wisconsin law does not allow voters to void an absentee ballot after it has been returned to a clerk.
- The ruling affirms guidance the bipartisan Wisconsin Elections Commission issued on July 9 that replacement absentee ballots are permitted only when a voter brings a spoiled or damaged ballot to the clerk before returning it.
- Election officials reported that more than 112,000 to 117,000 absentee ballots had been returned before the ruling, meaning those ballots are effectively locked in for the Aug. 11 Democratic primary.
- Democrats who sued said voters who cast absentee ballots for candidates who withdrew would be disenfranchised and plan to consider appeals, while Republican groups hailed the decision as an election integrity win and Commission chair Don Millis defended the legal reading.
- The dispute revives earlier 2022 litigation over so-called ballot spoiling and could move quickly up the appeals chain, with courts facing a narrow legal question about whether clerks may return already-received absentee ballots for recasting.