Waukesha judge bars election clerks from filling in witness information on absentee ballot envelopes, giving Republicans a victory

MADISON - State law does not allow election clerks to fill in missing address information on absentee ballots, a Waukesha County judge ruled Wednesday — a victory for Republicans who have sought to block election clerks from filling in such information.

The ruling is in a lawsuit supported by Republican lawmakers who have spent months pushing for tighter voting rules since former President Donald Trump's 2020 loss to President Joe Biden, a contest decided by about 21,000 votes in a battleground state crucial to both parties' pursuit of power.

Waukesha County Circuit Judge Michael Aprahamian on Wednesday granted motions to block clerks from adding the missing information to ballot envelopes and said the election officials could alert voters about the problem if they wish.

Wisconsin Supreme Court will likely take up the absentee ballot issue

The decision, which comes two months before the next election, is likely heading to the state Supreme Court, which is controlled by conservative justices.

At issue is guidance issued by the Wisconsin Elections Commission in 2016 that allows clerks to fix witness certificate errors without contacting voters. The guidance was not challenged until Trump began falsely claiming his election loss was a casualty of widespread voter fraud despite recounts he paid for that confirmed the result.

Clerks were able to fill in missing information under the guidance, such as a ZIP code.

Republican lawmakers in July voted to eliminate regulations allowing the practice but the commission did not agree to withdraw the guidance to clerks because the three Democratic members voted against doing so, resulting in a deadlock.

On Wednesday, Aprahamian blasted the Democratic commissioners for ignoring state law.

"It is a little wonder that proponents from all corners of the political spectrum are critical, cynical and suspicious of how elections are managed and overseen when three unelected bureaucrats can defy the legislature and declined to suspend guidance that the joint committee under its oversight authority has determined violates Wisconsin law," he said.

An attorney for the Waukesha County Democratic Party said barring clerks from fixing small omissions would amount to disenfranchising voters.

Donald Trump challenged the policy after the 2020 election

State auditors last year said the commission should adopt rules allowing the practice after reviewing nearly 15,000 absentee ballots from 29 municipalities cast during the 2020 election.

More than 1,000 certificates, or 7% of those sampled, had partial addresses for witnesses. Most of those were missing a ZIP code but included other parts of the address.

Fifteen lacked witness addresses entirely, eight lacked witness signatures and three lacked voter signatures. Certificates without signatures should not be counted under state law.

Trump challenged the policy after the 2020 election, but the state Supreme Court found he had done so too late. Such challenges need to be brought before elections, not after them, the court found in its 4-3 ruling.

Supreme Court Justice Brian Hagedorn, who is often a swing vote in high-profile cases, wrote in the ruling's majority opinion that it's unclear what constitutes a sufficient address under the state law — a question that the justices could take up again.

Republicans happy by decision, while Democrats say this disenfranchises voters

Republican Party of Wisconsin chairman Paul Farrow said in a statement that the party is "extremely pleased" with the ruling.

"This ruling cleans up the process, and if WEC puts aside political games by issuing sound guidance, this will ensure uniformity across all of the state’s municipalities,” Farrow said.

Democrats blasted Republicans for pursuing the restrictions in the first place.

"An entire political party has such horrible policies and ideas that instead of responding to voters’ needs and embracing the future, they are instead clinging to the past and focusing on preventing votes from counting," Sen. Chris Larson, D-Milwaukee, said in a tweet.

Contact Molly Beck at molly.beck@jrn.com. Follow her on Twitter at @MollyBeck.

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This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Wisconsin judge bars clerks from curing absentee ballot envelopes