MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Republican lawmakers in the swing state of Wisconsin on Friday appealed a ruling allowing people with disabilities to download mail-in ballots at home in November’s presidential election.
The League of Women Voters of Disability Rights Wisconsin and four disabled voters filed suit in April demanding that disabled people be allowed to download mail-in ballots at home and email them back to local clerks in the fall.
Currently, anyone in Wisconsin can cast a ballot by mail, but must deliver it in person to local poll workers or return it by mail. Until 2011, anyone could request a ballot electronically, until then-Governor Scott Walker signed a Republican-authored law allowing only military personnel and overseas voters to operate this method. Those voters must still return their ballots by mail, just like absentee voters in the state.
The plaintiffs argued in their lawsuit that many people with disabilities cannot cast their ballots without assistance, which affects their right to a secret ballot, and that they have difficulty casting ballots by mail or in person. The lawsuit targets a rule that allows people with disabilities to download mail-in ballots for the Aug. 13 primary and the November presidential election, cast them at home with assistive devices, and return them to poll workers via email.
Dane County District Judge Everett Mitchell issued a ephemeral restraining order Tuesday allowing officials to send electronic ballots in the November election to voters who self-certify that they cannot read or fill out a ballot without assistance, but they must still return the ballots in person or by mail.
The Republican lawmakers filed an appeal Friday in the heavily Republican-leaning 2nd District Court of Appeals in Waukesha. The lawmakers said they plan to argue that Mitchell wrongfully issued the injunction because the plaintiffs are unlikely to win the lawsuit and have failed to show they would suffer irreparable harm without the injunction. They also plan to argue that Mitchell wrongfully disrupted the status quo just months before the election.
Doug Poland, one of the plaintiff’s attorneys, declined to comment on the complaint Friday afternoon.
The question of who is allowed to vote by mail and how has become a political flashpoint in Wisconsin. Four of the last six presidential elections there were decided by a margin of less than one percentage point.
More than 30 states allow certain voters to return their ballots either by fax, email or through an online portal, according to data from the National Conference of State Legislatures and Verified Voting, a nonpartisan group that studies state voting systems. In recent years, a dozen states have expanded the method to include voters with disabilities. But experts warn that electronic ballot return carries the risk that ballots could be intercepted or tampered with, and so it should be used sparingly.
Disabled people have been involved in several legal battles over access to polling places in recent years as many Republican-led states have restricted how and when people can vote. Issues they have fought include limits on the type of assistance a voter can receive and whether someone else can return a voter’s mail-in ballot.
Nearly 100,000 adults in Wisconsin have vision problems, according to state health department statistics. Just over 307,000 adults have mobility difficulties, including difficulty walking, climbing stairs, reaching, lifting or carrying objects.
A Dane County judge issued a ephemeral restraining order Tuesday that allows people with disabilities to download ballots for the November presidential election but still requires them to return ballots in person or by mail. GOP lawmakers filed an appeal Friday, saying they plan to argue that the plaintiffs are unlikely to win the lawsuit and the injunction disrupts the status quo just months before the election.
