MADISON, Wis. (AP) — The Wisconsin Elections Commission has complied with court orders and voted to tell the more than 1,800 local clerks who run elections in the battleground state that they can accept absentee ballots that are missing parts of a witness’s address.
The commission voted 5-1 Thursday, with Republican Commissioner Bob Spindell opposed, to adopt the new guidance for absentee ballot envelopes with a “missing” address, the Wisconsin State Journal reported.
Under previous guidance, clerks were required to reach out to voters to correct absentee ballot envelopes that had “incomplete or insufficient” witness address information before those ballots could be accepted.
Spindell proposed amending the new rule to require a witness to provide a photo ID before corrections are made to an absentee ballot envelope, but the motion failed Thursday on a 3-3 vote, with all Democratic members opposed.
The Republican-controlled Legislature and the conservative group Priorities USA have appealed a pair of court rulings affecting absentee ballots, which could result in even more changes in election rules prior to the November presidential election. Every vote is critical in Wisconsin, where each of the last two presidential elections in Wisconsin was decided by fewer than 23,000 votes.