Who Can Be a Witness for Absentee Ballot
Voters beyond the state have returned their absentee ballots for Tuesday's election without a witness signature, putting their votes at take chances of not being counted.
In Milwaukee solitary, 450 absentee ballots have already been returned without the required witness signature, Neil Albrecht, the executive director of the city of Milwaukee Election Commission, said in a court filing.
And in Madison, some other voting result has arisen too, co-ordinate to the city clerk's Twitter business relationship. Over i,100 voters have failed to provide a copy of a voter ID, similar a commuter'due south license, and are at hazard of not receiving an absentee ballot. Some, many of them senior citizens, have resorted to sending selfie photos of themselves holding their IDs — not acceptable proof under the state'south voter laws.
Having a witness sign the ballot is a requirement in Wisconsin land law, according to the Wisconsin Elections Commission, and there are no exemptions. The commission upheld that requirement at a March 27 meeting.
Live updates: The latest on coronavirus in Wisconsin
Daily digest:What you need to know about coronavirus in Wisconsin
The coronavirus crisis has complicated the situation: producing a demand for mail-in ballots the state has never seen combined with voters isolating at habitation co-ordinate to Gov. Tony Evers' safer-at-domicile declaration. While people are being brash to not have contact with others, they may not have someone readily available to witness their vote.
As of Midweek, 1,053,556 Wisconsin residents had requested mail-in absentee ballots, but simply 387,833 had been returned.
The commission recommends for those who don't have someone living with them to have someone watch them fill out the election through a window, then put the ballot outside the door for the witness to sign, which could exist a friend, family member or even the mail delivery person or nutrient delivery person, among others.
Unremarkably, a ballot would be returned to a voter, or the city could call a voter in to take their ballot signed, just current weather condition could complicate either of those things from happening, said Reid Magney, public information officer for the Wisconsin Elections Commission. Any ballot would have to be returned by Tuesday in order to be counted, nether electric current law.
The witness signature requirement is being challenged in federal court, though. The instance was opened on March 26 and a resolution has non yet been reached. Albrecht'due south filing describing the 450 unwitnessed ballots is role of that case. He said those ballots would be rejected without a alter in state police.
Magney likewise pointed to an online video, showing how to vote absentee in the fourth dimension of coronavirus, shared by the blog "As Goes Wisconsin." Though not produced by the state, he said, the video is accurate.
Albrecht did not return a request for an interview Wednesday morn near whether that number has gone up, and about what Milwaukee is doing to contact those voters or to brainwash others.
Gina Kozlik, Waukesha city clerk, said information technology'southward not uncommon for a few absentee ballots to come back without a witness signature in every election.
In Madison, the city is sending the ballots back to voters, said clerk Maribeth Witzel-Behl. She wasn't sure how many ballots the urban center had gotten back without witness signatures, though.
Witzel-Behl recommended that those struggling to notice a witness due to social distancing contact the Dane County Voter ID Coalition to have someone watch the voter sign their ballot from vi feet abroad. Other than that, voters can go to a curbside voting location, and a worker at that place will be able to witness and sign the ballot.
The Madison Clerk's Office also tweeted out a reminder Wednesday well-nigh making sure to include the right form of voter ID. The tweet said some absentee requests have non been processed because the city has no voter ID.
"Nearly half are senior citizens who sent u.s. selfies," the tweet said. "If you lot know a senior denizen staying safe at home, please contact them to ask whether they need help sending their ID to their clerk."
In a later tweet, the clerk'southward office said that they've been emailing back instructions or sending letters to those who didn't ship a correct ID, and have also walked voters through the process via phone calls every bit well.
In Wausau, clerk Leslie Kremer said the city has had a few ballots returned without signatures, but non many.
For those returned without the signature, the clerk's office has contacted the voter and either reissued a ballot if the voter didn't accept a witness or sent it back if the voter did accept a witness that just didn't sign the ballot before it was mailed, Kremer said.
Laura Schulte can be reached at leschulte@gannett.com and twitter.com/SchulteLaura.
Source: https://www.jsonline.com/story/news/2020/04/01/wisconsin-absentee-ballots-without-witness-signature-may-not-count/5103830002/
0 Response to "Who Can Be a Witness for Absentee Ballot"
Post a Comment