The Wisconsin Court of Appeals on Thursday mostly upheld a lower court’s decision that prevents the rejection of absentee ballots with address variations for upcoming elections. This decision is expected to reduce the number of ballot rejections in the state.
The legal dispute centers on interpreting an absentee ballot witness’s address, involving a January 2024 ruling that impacted absentee ballots in the state. Under Wisconsin law, absentee ballots require completion in the presence of a witness, who would then sign it and provide their address. The state law specifies that an absentee ballot certificate must include the address of a witness to be counted. If the certificate is improperly completed or lacks a certificate, a municipal clerk must send verification to the witness for correction. Various groups, including Rise Inc., criticized the stringent requirements for the witness’s address as a prerequisite for ballot validity.
A unanimous three-judge appeals panel ruled that witnesses’ certificates must include a sufficient address to identify where the witness resides and can be contacted. This ruling diverges from the trial court’s standard, which mandated that an address is considered sufficient only if it allows a “member of the community” to reasonably locate the witness, rather than relying on the municipal clerk.
Rise argued against the strict legislative definition and requested broader language to accommodate unique address situations, such as the mobility of college students. They advocated that discretion be left to municipal clerks rather than a “reasonable person in the community.” The rigorous criteria imposed by the Wisconsin legislature included the street name, street number, and municipality name, despite “address” not being clearly defined under state law.
Absentee voting remains a divisive issue during election seasons. Last week, the Wisconsin Supreme Court ruled that absentee ballot drop boxes could be used ahead of the November general election. This decision reversed a 2022 ruling that did not recognize dropping off an absentee ballot as a return to a municipal clerk. Similarly, a federal judge in Mississippi is currently making a decision on whether to count mail-in ballots up to five days after the election. Although temporarily permitted during the pandemic, many states are now reevaluating their legislation on mail-in voting.
Wisconsin has faced additional election-related challenges. In December, in a 4-3 decision, the state’s highest court ruled that the current electoral map violated the state’s constitution, requiring district boundary lines to be redrawn before the 2024 elections.
Thursday’s decision will impact the upcoming state primary in August and the general election in November.