The Wisconsin Elections Commission held a special teleconference meeting Tuesday to discuss an Outagamie County ballot misprint and other issues related to absentee voting.
Outagamie County had a small printing flaw on absentee ballots, located on the line on the outer edges of the ballot. The misprint would have caused scanning machines to read them inaccurately.
Late last week, county officials asked the Commission to be granted a waiver or exception for more time to count ballots. The council decided not to allow them more time out of fear of delaying Wisconsin’s voting outcome.
Outagamie County Clerk Lori O’Bright ensured voters that their ballots would be counted, according to the Appleton Post-Crescent. Although election inspectors first said they would transfer the votes to a readable ballot, the Committee sent a letter recommending that the county fix the damaged ballots by filling in the scratched out area so they can be counted. This would be faster and more accurate than copying the voters’ choices to a new ballot, according to Dean Knudson and other commissioners.
“I don’t want the eyes of the nation to be on Wisconsin because we can’t determine what the outcome is of our election," Knudson said.
The Commission still expects Outagamie County to ask a court for more time to count absentee ballots.
According to state law, local officials cannot stop counting until all the ballots are accounted for. The State Legislature has not implemented legislation that would allow clerks to begin counting ballots before Election Day, even as the pandemic has brought a spike in absentee voting and poll workers are concerned about being able to count ballots on Election Day.
As of Oct. 20, with two weeks until Election Day, 1,416,108 absentee ballots have been requested and 915,965 ballots have been reported returned. In Dane County alone, 206,428 ballots have been requested and 146,530 have been returned.
To mitigate poll workers concerns, the Elections Commission issued guidance to local officials on how they should conduct operations on election night.
Last week, Democrats and other groups asked the U.S. Supreme Court to review a ruling that blocked a 6-day extension for absentee ballots to be received and counted. Gov. Tony Evers filed an amicus brief in support of reinstating the extension.
“As it did at the time of Wisconsin’s primary election on April 7, 2020, the pandemic has created a dangerous choice for Wisconsin’s voters: Risk exposure to the virus and the possibility of infection, illness and death, or minimize that risk by voting absentee,” Evers said in the brief.
Ahead of early voting, Wisconsin Attorney General Josh Kaul released a statement committing the state Department of Justice to a secure and fair election. The statement also offered a reminder that voter intimidation is against the law.
“The Wisconsin Department of Justice is working with other agencies to ensure that we have a fair election. It is critical that every lawfully cast ballot is counted and that voters feel safe at their polling locations,” Kaul said. “Voter intimidation is illegal. If someone breaks the laws that protect against voter intimidation, they should be prepared to spend time behind bars.”
Early in-person absentee voting also began Tuesday and will run through Nov. 1. A list of hours and locations for Madison can be found on the city clerk’s website. Locations on campus can also be found here.
