Wisconsin Democrats Urge Elections Commission to Allow New Absentee Ballots

The Wisconsin Democratic Party asked the state elections commission on Tuesday to let voters who already returned absentee ballots cast new ones. More than 80,000 ballots have been submitted for the August 11 Democratic primary for governor. The request is expected to face a lawsuit.

Lt. Gov. Sara Rodriguez ended her campaign for governor on Friday. Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley rejoined the race the next day with the endorsement of Gov. Tony Evers. There are now five Democratic candidates actively campaigning.

Any voter who already returned an absentee ballot cast for Rodriguez would not be able to get a new ballot under guidance the bipartisan Wisconsin Elections Commission approved earlier this month. The guidance was adopted after another Democratic candidate, Missy Hughes, dropped out in June.

Both Rodriguez and Hughes remain on the ballot. The Democratic Party argues that the commission’s guidance must be rescinded because it reversed its own rule that was in place four years ago and is inconsistent with a 2006 U.S. Supreme Court ruling.

That ruling said voting rules should not be changed close to an election.

The rarely used practice known as ballot spoiling was the subject of a lawsuit in 2022. A Waukesha County judge sided with a Republican group that brought the lawsuit, ruling in October 2022 that the elections commission must rescind its guidance allowing for spoiling of ballots.

A state appeals court put that ruling on hold just weeks before the midterm election that year. In February, a state appeals court repealed the ruling, saying the lawsuit was not properly served. The appeals court did not address the merits of the case.