In Madison, Wisconsin, a judge dismissed a lawsuit challenging absentee voting procedures that was filed by a voter named Thomas Oldenberg from Amberg, Wisconsin. Oldenberg claimed that the state Elections Commission was not following a law that requires voters who request absentee ballots electronically to include a physical copy of the request in the return envelope with the ballot. He argued that ballots without the request copy should not be counted. However, the Commission argued that the language on the envelope that voters sign already serves as a copy of the request and changing procedures now would disrupt the upcoming elections.
Door County Circuit Judge David Weber made an oral decision in favor of the Elections Commission and dismissed the case without providing further details on his reasoning. The lawsuit was aimed at avoiding administrative issues for election clerks and hundreds of thousands of voters in Wisconsin, a crucial swing state with a history of close elections.
Wisconsin has been at the center of political debates over absentee voting, with both Democrats and Republicans expressing conflicting views on the practice. Nearly 2 million voters in Wisconsin cast their votes by absentee ballot in the 2020 presidential election. Democrats have been advocating for increased use of absentee voting to boost turnout, while Republicans have raised concerns about potential fraud.
In Wisconsin, eligible voters can vote by paper absentee ballot and mail it back to local clerks. Absentee ballots can be requested through mail or electronically via the state’s MyVote database, after which local clerks send the ballots along with return envelopes to the voters. Military and overseas voters can receive and return ballots electronically, while disabled voters can also receive electronic ballots but must mail them back, as ruled by a Dane County judge this year.
Oldenberg’s attorneys, Daniel Eastman and Kevin Scott, previously represented former President Donald Trump in a post-election lawsuit seeking to overturn Joe Biden’s victory in Wisconsin after the 2020 election. The case was eventually dismissed, adding to the legal battles surrounding election procedures in the state.
