Wisconsin: Absentee Voters’ Rights

Published Date:

July 24, 2024

Fair Elections Center along with Wisconsin-based Law Forward, filed a complaint on behalf of the League of Women Voters of Wisconsin in Dane County Circuit Court, seeking both clarity and protection for absentee voters whose ballots have technical defects.

In February 2024, Wisconsin courts have rejected the Wisconsin State legislature’s bid to block relief for absentee voters won by the League of Women Voters of Wisconsin’s lawsuit. On January 30, the League, represented by Law Forward, Fair Elections Center, and Stafford Rosenbaum LLP, secured an order from the Dane County Circuit Court that protects four categories of absentee ballots with purported defects in the address recorded by the voter’s witness. That ruling relied on the 1964 Civil Rights Act which prohibits denying the right to vote for technical errors or omissions that are not material to determining a voter’s eligibility.

The denial of the right to vote for the omission of certain witness address components, like state names and zip codes, would violate the 1964 Civil Rights Act’s prohibition on denying a vote based on immaterial omission or error. And the lack of notice to voters whose ballots are threatened with rejection to a defective witness address violates the U.S. Constitution’s due process requirements.

LEGAL DOCUMENTS

Complaint (9.30.22)

PRESS

Press Release — League of Women Voters of Wisconsin Files Challenge to Protect Absentee Voters’ Rights (9.30.22)

Wisconsin: Absentee Voters’ Rights

LEGAL DOCUMENTS

PRESS

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