Election officials offered mail-in voting guidance as legislators express concerns over USPS changes and rejected ballots. The City Clerk’s Office described how they are adjusting to new voting norms.
Wisconsin Watch and APM Reports’ analysis of Wisconsin’s April primary found that over 23,000 ballots were rejected. Multiple states joined a lawsuit challenging USPS changes that have caused mail slowdowns. Legislators and elections officials are concerned that delays could impact the November election.
The City of Madison recently received a grant from the Center for Tech and Civic Life for $1.2 million to help administer elections. In a phone interview, Madison Deputy Clerk Jim Verbick said this funding is being used to increase poll worker pay, buy more absentee ballot equipment and implement drop boxes.
Verbick said that temporary hourly employees have been “a huge help” in dealing with the large influx of absentee ballot requests. He also said that the Wisconsin Elections Commission streamlined some processes, which has made it easier to approve requests.
Wisconsin law does not require election officials to contact voters if ballots are incomplete. However, Verbick says that the office can try to complete witness addresses if the witness’ signature is legible. The office can return incomplete ballots to voters with instructions if the ballots are sent in far enough in advance. They can also contact voters and instruct them to go to their polling place on Election Day to fix their ballots.
Verbick said that the office highlighted key areas on the ballots, such as the voter and witness signature lines, to help voters complete ballots correctly.
An APM Reports analysis of the April primary shows that 13,834 out of the more than 23,000 ballots rejected were due to voters forgetting to sign the ballot envelope or include the address of the witness.
According to the Wisconsin Elections Commission, 139,706 absentee ballots were requested in Dane County for the August partisan primary. 138,748 ballots were reported sent and 112,312 ballots were reported returned as of Aug. 31.
Rejected ballots could have an enormous influence on battleground states like Wisconsin. President Trump’s margin of victory in Wisconsin was just 22,748 votes, just under the number of ballots rejected in the April primary.
In the August primary, Dane County received 139,780 absentee applications and 138,832 ballots were reported sent, according to the Wisconsin Elections Commission. 101,230 ballots were reported returned.
Reactions to USPS changes
Legislators expressed outrage over changes to the U.S. Postal Service that could impact mail-in voting. U.S. Postmaster General Louis DeJoy mandated new cost-cutting rules in early July that caused mail delays. Lawmakers also expressed concerns about the removal of mail sorting machines during DeJoy’s Aug. 24 testimony before the House Oversight Committee.
Sen. Tammy Baldwin, D-Wisconsin, reacted after DeJoy announced on Aug. 18 that he would suspend some changes until after the election.
“Your announcement did not reverse the damage already done or put in place long-term solutions to prevent further delays. Millions of Wisconsinites — among them veterans, seniors, small business owners, rural communities, and voters — depend on USPS and I am calling on you to take action to prevent further delays in mail delivery,” Baldwin said in a statement.
Madison Mayor Satya Rhodes-Conway also wrote to DeJoy to address a USPS letter to the State of Wisconsin that said voters could expect delays in the return of absentee ballots.
“This letter warned that USPS cannot guarantee that all ballots cast by mail in a manner consistent will arrive in time to be counted. This forces Wisconsinites to choose between exercising their constitutional right to vote and protecting their health during a pandemic,” Rhodes-Conway wrote.
Wisconsin Attorney General Josh Kaul joined a multi-state lawsuit against the USPS over mail slowdowns. Kaul also urged Congress to act on a bill to provide $25 billion to the USPS. House Democrats passed the bill but the Senate has not taken it up yet.
How to vote in a pandemic
Voters can check their registration and request absentee ballots at myvote.wi.gov. Absentee ballots can be requested as late as Thursday before the election, but the Clerk’s Office recommends making requests as soon as possible. In-person absentee voting will also be offered Oct. 20 - Nov. 1. Visit vote.wisc.edu for additional resources and voting information.
The City Clerk’s Office plans to send out absentee ballots to voters with requests on file by Sept. 17. Wisconsin is a “no excuse” state, where voters do not need a reason to vote absentee. The office has laid out several options for returning the ballot, including mailing the ballot to the Clerk’s Office and returning their ballot at drop-off locations.
Drop-off locations in Madison will have poll workers available to accept absentee ballots and serve as witnesses. Locations and dates include the City Clerk’s Office from Sept. 22 - Nov. 2 and voters’ polling places on Election Day. More locations will be added when ballots are mailed. In addition, the office will work with city planning and engineering departments to install 14 drop boxes across the city in early October.
Hope Karnopp is the news manager and dabbles in music reviews at The Daily Cardinal. She previously hosted the Cardinal Call for WORT-FM and edited state news.
