Judge dismisses lawsuit against Wisconsin absentee ballot procedures

An absentee ballots for the April 7 election. (Photo by Henry Redman)

A Door County judge on Monday dismissed a lawsuit that challenged the method hundreds of thousands of Wisconsin voters use to request absentee ballots. The dismissal prevents massive administrative confusion for municipal election clerks and voters ahead of this fall’s election. 

The lawsuit, filed in Marinette County court, asked that a judge rule that voters who request an absentee ballot through MyVote, the state’s online voting portal, must also include a signed copy of their request when they send in their completed ballot in order for their vote to count.

State law allows for absentee ballot requests to be made by email. When a voter requests a ballot through MyVote, the system fills out a ballot request form and sends it by email to the voter’s municipal clerk. 

The lawsuit was brought by Amberg resident Thomas Oldenburg, who argued that without the signed copy of the request, absentee ballots should not be counted.

Oldenburg’s attorneys have previously been involved in attacks on the state’s election systems. One, Kevin Scott, represented former Supreme Court Justice Michael Gableman in a case seeking to jail the mayors of Madison and Green Bay. The other attorney, Daniel Eastman, asked a federal judge to overturn Wisconsin’s 2020 election results. 

In addition to the added step in requesting and returning an absentee ballot online, the lawsuit asked for an order to prevent clerks from sending out absentee ballot envelopes that use a design recently approved by the WEC.

In May, attorneys for the WEC requested the lawsuit be dismissed, stating the requested relief “would risk disenfranchising tens or even hundreds of thousands of Wisconsin voters in upcoming elections,” which would be “a stunningly undemocratic result.” 

In an oral ruling Monday, Judge David Weber dismissed the lawsuit, online court records show.