Current:Home > FinanceBurley Garcia|Court rules absentee ballots with minor problems OK to count -文件: temp/data/webname/news/nam2.txt
Burley Garcia|Court rules absentee ballots with minor problems OK to count
PredictIQ Quantitative Think Tank Center View
Date:2025-04-07 10:11:20
MADISON,Burley Garcia Wis. (AP) — Wisconsin election clerks can accept absentee ballots that contain minor errors such as missing portions of witness addresses, a court ruled Tuesday in a legal fight that has pitted conservatives against liberals in the battleground state.
Dane County Circuit Court ruled in favor of the League of Women Voters of Wisconsin in its lawsuit to clarify voting rights protections for voters whose absentee ballots have minor errors in listing their witnesses’ addresses.
The ruling means that absentee ballots with certain technical witness address defects will not be rejected in future elections, the league said.
A Waukesha County Circuit Court, siding with Republicans, barred the Wisconsin Elections Commission in 2022 from using longstanding guidance for fixing minor witness address problems on absentee ballots without contacting the voter. That ruling left absentee voters at risk of having their ballots rejected due to technical omissions or errors with no guarantee that they would be notified and given the chance to correct any errors and have their votes counted.
The League’s lawsuit argued that rejecting absentee ballots for the omission of certain witness address components violated the 1964 Civil Rights Act, which prohibits denying the right to vote based on an error that has no material bearing on determining voting eligibility.
In Tuesday’s order, the Dane County Circuit Court wrote, “the Witness Address Requirement is not material to whether a voter is qualified. . . . As such, rejecting ballots for trivial mistakes in the Witness Address requirement directly violates the federal Civil Rights Act of 1964.”
“All voters deserve to have their votes counted regardless of whether they vote in person or absentee,” Debra Cronmiller, executive director of the League of Women Voters of Wisconsin, said in a news release. “Small errors or omissions on the absentee certificate envelope should not prevent voters from exercising their constitutional rights.”
The Fair Elections Center, a Washington-based, nonpartisan voting rights and election reform advocate, sued on behalf of the league.
“Wisconsinites should not have their right to vote denied due to technical errors, especially when they are not uniformly given an opportunity to remedy such issues,” said Jon Sherman, the center’s litigation director. “Congress enacted the Civil Rights Act to prohibit exactly this type of disenfranchisement, and the court’s order today enforces that federal law’s protections as to four categories of absentee ballots.”
A telephone message seeking comment on the ruling was left Tuesday evening at the offices of the Wisconsin Republican Party.
veryGood! (4825)
Related
- Video shows dog chewing cellphone battery pack, igniting fire in Oklahoma home
- A trial in Run-DMC star Jam Master Jay’s 2002 killing is starting, and testing his anti-drug image
- Ukraine says it has no evidence for Russia’s claim that dozens of POWs died in a shot down plane
- Airstrike kills 3 Palestinians in southern Gaza as Israel presses on with its war against Hamas
- Working Well: When holidays present rude customers, taking breaks and the high road preserve peace
- Republicans see an opportunity with Black voters, prompting mobilization in Biden campaign
- Revelers in festive dress fill downtown Tampa, Florida, for the annual Gasparilla Pirate Fest
- Kentucky parents charged with manslaughter after 3-year-old fatally shoots 2-year-old brother
- What polling shows about Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, Harris’ new running mate
- Biden offers fresh assurances he would shut down border ‘right now’ if Congress sends him a deal
Ranking
- British swimmer Adam Peaty: There are worms in the food at Paris Olympic Village
- Texas attorney general refuses to grant federal agents full access to border park: Your request is hereby denied
- China’s top diplomat at meeting with US official urges Washington not to support Taiwan independence
- Amber Glenn becomes first LGBTQ+ woman to win U.S. Women's Figure Skating Championship
- Euphoria's Hunter Schafer Says Ex Dominic Fike Cheated on Her Before Breakup
- Hurry, Lululemon Added Hundreds of Items to Their We Made Too Much Section, From $39 Leggings to $29 Tees
- Remembering the horrors of Auschwitz, German chancellor warns of antisemitism, threats to democracy
- Is Amazon a threat to the movie industry? This Hollywood director thinks so.
Recommendation
From family road trips to travel woes: Americans are navigating skyrocketing holiday costs
Alyssa Milano sparks criticism after seeking donations to son's baseball team
Trump praises Texas governor as border state clashes with Biden administration over immigration
China orders a Japanese fishing boat to leave waters near Japan-held islands claimed by Beijing
Michigan lawmaker who was arrested in June loses reelection bid in Republican primary
Community health centers serve 1 in 11 Americans. They’re a safety net under stress
NFL championship game picks: Who among Chiefs, Ravens, 49ers and Lions reaches Super Bowl 58?
Tesla recalls nearly 200,000 cars over software glitch that prevents rearview camera display