MADISON, WI (WSAU) – A judge refused to suspend his earlier ruling against absentee ballot “curing,” blocking election clerks from filling in missing information on security envelopes.
The dispute is between the state legislature, controlled by Republicans, and the Wisconsin Elections Commission. The legislature said making corrections on absentee ballots isn’t allowed under state election law. The WEC had refused to rescind earlier guidance to local election officials, leading to the lawsuit.
Democrats are expected to appeal the ruling from Judge Michael Aprahamian. He refused to stay his earlier ruling from September 7th, saying an appeal is unlikely to be successful.
If the ruling isn’t overturned, ballots with missing or incorrect information won’t be counted.
The WEC issued guidance to local clerks in 2016 that they could fill in missing information on the security envelopes that absentee ballots arrive in through the mail. The most common mistake involves an absentee voter’s physical address. It must match the address on the voter rolls, and cannot be a post office box or a different location.
The practice of “curing” received new scrutiny during the 2020 elections, impacted by COVID, when record numbers of people voted by absentee ballot.
