Federal judge tosses Democrats’ lawsuit challenging Wisconsin absentee voting requirements
MADISON, Wis. — A federal judge has dismissed a lawsuit filed by Democrats challenging Wisconsin’s witness requirements for absentee voting, a ruling that keeps the law in effect with the presidential election six months away.
Wisconsin’s voting rules are of greater importance given its place as one of the few presidential battleground states. Four of the past six presidential elections in Wisconsin have been decided by less than a percentage point, including the past two.
U.S. District Court Judge James Peterson dismissed the lawsuit Thursday, saying the fact that the law has gone unchallenged in some form since the 1960s is “telling.”
“Whether the witness requirement is necessary may be debatable, but it is a reasonable way for the state to attempt to combat abuses such as fraud and undue influence in an environment where election officials cannot control the preparation of a ballot,” Peterson wrote.
National Democratic law firm Elias Law Group, which represents four Wisconsin voters, had argued that the state is violating the federal Voting Rights Act and Civil Rights Act by requiring a witness signature on ballots.
The voters argued that it is difficult to obtain a witness’s signature due to health risks, age and frequent travel abroad.
State law requires clerks to reject absentee ballots that are missing the address or signature of a witness. A Wisconsin judge ruled in 2022 that election officials cannot correct or fill in missing information on witness statements, a practice known as ballot tampering.
The Voting Rights Act prohibits states from requiring a voter to “prove his qualifications by the voucher of registered voters or members of another class.”
The judge said the voters had not shown that neither the Voting Rights Act of 1965 nor the Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibits a state from requiring absentee voters to prepare their ballots in the presence of a witness.
“Neither side cites any evidence regarding the effectiveness of the witness requirement in preventing abuse or the number of citizens who cannot vote because of the requirement,” Peterson said. “But regardless of how effective or burdensome the requirement is, the federal laws at issue in this case simply do not apply to it.”
Attorneys for the voters who filed the lawsuit did not return messages seeking comment Friday. A spokesperson for the Wisconsin Elections Commission, the defendant in the case, also did not return a message.
According to the National Conference of State Legislatures, nine states require witness signatures to verify absentee ballots and three states require an absentee ballot envelope to be notarized.
In Wisconsin, witnesses for most voters must be U.S. citizens and at least 18 years old. Witnesses for foreign and military voters do not have to be U.S. citizens.
In a random review of nearly 15,000 absentee ballots in Wisconsin’s 2020 presidential election, the nonpartisan Legislative Audit Bureau found that nearly 7% of witness statements were missing at least one part of the witness’s address.
The ruling comes ahead of Monday’s Wisconsin Supreme Court hearing in another case involving absentee ballots. In it, Democrats are seeking to overturn a 2022 court ruling that banned the placement of absentee ballot drop boxes anywhere other than in the offices of election secretaries.
In January, a Dane County judge sided with Democrats in ruling that election clerks can accept absentee ballots that contain minor errors, such as missing portions of witness addresses. An appeal has been lodged against that ruling.