In a significant decision, a Wisconsin appeals court on Wednesday reversed a previous ruling that had permitted disabled individuals to receive absentee ballots via email. The new ruling comes just weeks prior to the election scheduled on April 1.
Originally, a Dane County Circuit Court judge had ruled in June that electronic delivery of ballots should be allowed for disabled voters. However, this decision was contested by the Republican-majority Legislature and subsequently placed on hold by an appeals court in August, ensuring that no ballots were sent electronically prior to the November presidential election.
The recent verdict from the 2nd District Court of Appeals stipulates that disabled voters will continue to be excluded from receiving absentee ballots by email for the upcoming election. This election is crucial as voters will decide on a new Wisconsin Supreme Court justice, thereby determining the court’s majority control, and elect a new state education chief. Early voting for the election starts on Tuesday.
The lawsuit was initiated a year ago by Disability Rights Wisconsin, the League of Women Voters, and four disabled voters. They argued that the absence of an email option for absentee voting infringes upon their rights to vote independently and privately.
Dane County Circuit Judge Everett Mitchell had originally ruled in favor of allowing disabled voters to receive absentee ballots via email, a provision that is currently granted only to military personnel and overseas voters. However, the appeals court has now overturned that decision, arguing that the previous court’s temporary injunction would have “significantly disrupted the status quo.”
The existing laws in Wisconsin permit absentee ballots to be emailed solely to military and overseas voters, leaving others without this option as the appeals court judges Mark Gundrum, Shelley Grogan, and Maria Lazar noted in their statement.
This week’s ruling concentrated specifically on whether the temporary injunction to facilitate emailing of ballots was necessary. According to the League of Women Voters and Disability Rights Wisconsin, there are no intentions to appeal the verdict. Instead, they plan to continue addressing the core issues of the case within the circuit court.
While neither the plaintiffs nor the Wisconsin Elections Commission could predict how many disabled voters might have sought emailed absentee ballots, statistics reveal that over 1 million adults in Wisconsin experience some form of disability. Remarkably, almost 100,000 Wisconsinites have vision impairments.
The initial ruling, prior to being halted and overturned, proposed that ballots be emailed exclusively to voters who self-certify that they cannot manage a paper ballot unassisted. These voters could then utilize electronic devices to read and complete their ballots at home before printing and mailing them or returning them in person.
Although other absentee voters can procure ballots electronically, these are dispatched by mail. Voters manually fill out the paper ballots and return them either by mail or in person. The Wisconsin Department of Justice, who represented the state elections commission, argued that emailing ballots could pose security risks and lead to confusion. The Legislature also voiced its opposition.
Republican Senate Majority Leader Devin LeMahieu praised the court’s ruling, describing it as a triumph for legal standards and election security in Wisconsin. “Allowing courts to decide who can vote from home, using the internet, would weaken election integrity and hurt voters’ faith in our elections,” stated LeMahieu.
