Wisconsin Elections Commission Says Disabled Voters Can Get Help, Following Federal Court Ruling

By Henry Redman, Wisconsin Examiner

September 7, 2022

The Wisconsin Elections Commission (WEC) voted Tuesday to tell local clerks they must allow disabled voters to get help returning an absentee ballot from someone else.

The commission approved the guidance for clerks a week after a federal judge ruled that ballot return assistance is protected under the federal Voting Rights Act.

The ability for disabled voters to get help was brought into question this summer after a decision from the Wisconsin Supreme Court banned the use of absentee ballot drop boxes and that it’s illegal to return an absentee ballot for another person.

A group of disabled voters with limited mobility filed a lawsuit in federal court, arguing that several federal laws guarantee their right to get assistance when casting a ballot. Last week, U.S. District Judge James Peterson agreed with them and ordered the WEC to tell clerks that disabled voters must be allowed to have assistance.

In a 4-2 vote on Tuesday, the commission voted to allow disabled voters to get assistance without any other requirements such as a certification or statement that they are disabled. The three Democratic appointees on the commission were joined by Republican appointee Marge Bostleman.

“There’s a federal court case that told us what the law is,” Democratic commissioner Ann Jacobs, who wrote the passed motion, said. “The clerk doesn’t get to tell someone you don’t get to bring in the ballot.”

Under the guidance, “any Wisconsin voter who requires assistance with mailing or delivering their absentee ballot to the municipal clerk because of a disability must be permitted to receive such assistance by a person of the voter’s choice.”

The person returning the ballot is not allowed to be a representative of the voter’s employer or union. The other Republicans on the commission had pushed for some certification requirements for the person returning the ballot. Republican commissioner Bob Spindell proposed requiring the person delivering the ballot to certify that the voter is disabled and unable to mail it or bring it to the clerk’s office. Commission chair Don Millis, also a Republican, proposed requiring only people who return a ballot in person to a local clerk’s office to certify that the voter is disabled.

Spindell complained that without any added requirements, the guidance opens the state up to “ballot harvesting,” a term Republicans have created to describe the return of absentee ballots, suggesting without evidence that a lot of absentee voting as fraudulent.

“In every aspect of life, except voting of course, there’s lying, cheating and stealing,” Spindell said sarcastically.

Both Republican proposals failed on 3-3 party line votes with Democrats arguing that this would be creating a new voting requirement “out of thin air,” that isn’t stated in state law.

Spindell, the body’s most right-wing member, expressed surprise that Bostleman had crossed party lines to support Jacobs’ motion.

“Oh gosh,” he said after confirming her vote.

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