(The Center Square) – Six Wisconsin voting groups are now joining the Democracy Defense Project and Gov. Tony Evers in objecting to Madison and former Clerk Maribeth Witzel-Behl’s legal argument that absentee voting is not a constitutional right.
The Wisconsin Democracy Campaign, League of Women Voters of Wisconsin, Common Cause Wisconsin, ACLU of Wisconsin, All in Wisconsin Fund and All Voting is Local joined to make a statement that Madison and Witzel-Behl should drop their defense that absentee voting is not a constitutional right in a class action lawsuit for the 193 absentee ballots that were found sealed in courier bags and had not been counted in the Nov. 5, 2024, election.
“We call on the City of Madison to immediately abandon this dangerous legal argument, take responsibility for disenfranchising voters, and work toward a remedy that respects voters’ constitutional rights,” the groups said in a joint statement. “We call on elected leaders across Wisconsin to reject rhetoric that undermines absentee voting and to recommit to protecting every eligible voter, regardless of how they choose to cast their ballot.”
Evers echoed what the Democracy Defense Project said in mid January, stating that the argument creates a dangerous precedent.
“Wisconsinites who choose to vote absentee are not second-class citizens, and I cannot and will not accept the suggestion that they have any fewer rights or that their vote counts any less than a Wisconsinite who chooses to cast their ballot in-person on Election Day,” Evers said.
The Wisconsin Constitution states that voting is a constitutional right but that absentee ballots are a privilege exercised outside the traditional safeguards of a polling place.
“The legislature finds that the privilege of voting by absentee ballot must be carefully regulated to prevent the potential for fraud or abuse; to prevent overzealous solicitation of absent electors who may prefer not to participate in an election; to prevent undue influence on an absent elector to vote for or against a candidate or to cast a particular vote in a referendum; or other similar abuses,” the constitution states.
