Wisconsin Elections Commission spars over how absentee ballots must be returned on Election Day

During a sometimes tense meeting Tuesday, Republicans and Democrats on the Wisconsin Elections Commission battled over how absentee ballots from voters should get to clerks.

The discussion stems from two complaints alleging clerks in Greenfield and Brookfield broke the law by requiring ballots to be delivered to the clerks’ offices rather than allowing voters to drop them off at their polling place. The clerks also ended drop-off times for absentee ballots before the close of in-person voting on election day.

Draft memos from Wisconsin Elections Commission attorneys found the Greenfield and Brookfield clerks “abused” their discretion and didn’t follow state law, but because of a recent court ruling, the final decision had to come from the commission’s six-member board.

During discussion on the complaint from Greenfield, things got heated during the board meeting when commissioners Don Millis and Bob Spindell, both Republican appointees, pushed back on the staff recommendations. Millis said state law doesn’t allow absentee ballots to be returned to any location other than the clerk’s office unless a clerk designates alternate locations.




https://www.wpr.org/news/wisconsin-elections-commission-how-absentee-ballots-return-election-day