Early in-person Voting Starts in Wisconsin amid Lawsuits

Early voting in person started on Tuesday in competitive Wisconsin despite ongoing legal disputes over which ballots should be tallied or discarded, recently issued prohibitions on drop boxes, and limitations on who may return ballots.

In the battleground state of Wisconsin, where both Republican U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson and Democratic Gov. Tony Evers are up for election, the commencement of the in-person voting period heralds the start of the crucial two-week countdown to election day.

According to polls, the contest for governor between Evers and the Republican Tim Michels is roughly equal, while Johnson appears to be ahead of Democratic Lt. Governor Mandela Barnes in the battle for the Senate.

At the Madison municipal office building, a block from the Capitol, Billy Feitlinger was first in line 45 minutes before the doors opened on Tuesday to cast his ballot. There were roughly 12 people in queue when the doors opened.

Feitlinger expressed concern that voters may be perplexed by the absentee voting procedure. After former President Donald Trump's defeat in 2020, Republicans in Wisconsin took the lead in pushing for measures to make it harder to cast an absentee ballot.

Democratic candidate Feitlinger stated, "My opinion is we should make it simpler for all qualified citizens to vote."

One of the first 10 voters, Mary Stoffel, said it felt wonderful to do the task and that she was concerned that others would not understand the regulations.

Because they are still seated on the streets, she continued, "there are still those who believe that drop boxes are open."

The Wisconsin Supreme Court outlawed the placement of absentee ballot drop boxes outside of the offices of local election clerks in July. The absentee ballot can only be returned by the voter, the court further ruled. Later, a federal court made it clear that individuals with impairments are permitted to get assistance in returning their ballots under federal law.

In a separate lawsuit, the judge sided with the Republicans and ruled that election clerks were not allowed to fill in the missing witness address information. Each absentee ballot must have a witness's signature and address on it in order to be counted.

In 2016, the elections commission released guidelines stating that clerks could enter that data. But the judge determined that the advice was unlawful since state law does not permit it to be done.

How much of the witness's address must be present for the clerk to accept the ballot is the subject of two ongoing legal disputes. According to the elections commission, an address consists of the municipality, street name, and number.

However, one case brought by the League of Women Voters of Wisconsin asks for a decision on what counts as a missing address and claims that clerks should accept any address that isn't entirely blank.

Wednesday was set for the announcement of the judge's decision in that lawsuit, who had earlier expressed worries about causing uncertainty after voting had started. The Wisconsin Elections Commission reported that as of Tuesday, about 259,000 absentee ballots had been returned.