WILL Asks Wisconsin Elections Commission to Ban Ballot Harvesting
Rules petition would make clear ballot harvesting is illegal under Wisconsin law
The News: The Wisconsin Institute for Law & Liberty (WILL), on behalf of a group of petitioners, submitted a rules petition to the Wisconsin Elections Commission (WEC) asking the state agency to promulgate a rule that makes clear that the practice of ballot harvesting is illegal in Wisconsin. The Wisconsin Elections Commission is required by state law to respond to WILL’s petition within a “reasonable period of time.”
What is Ballot Harvesting? This is a practice that occurs when a third party requests absentee ballots for a voter, or a voter requests and receives an absentee ballot, and that ballot is collected and returned to the relevant municipal clerk by a third party. The practice is legal in California, but explicitly banned in other states.
- In North Carolina, an illegal ballot harvesting operation by a Republican operative in 2019 resulted in criminal charges and forced a special election.
WILL’s Rules Petition: Under Wisconsin law, only voters are allowed to request absentee ballots and voters are responsible for returning the ballot. This is the law except in very specific circumstances such as hospitalization. WILL, on behalf of the petitioners, is asking the Wisconsin Elections Commission to promulgate a rule that makes clear:
- Third parties cannot request an absentee ballot on behalf of a voter
- Third parties cannot collect and submit absentee ballots on behalf of a voter
The Wisconsin Elections Commission is required to consider the rules petition and either begin the rulemaking process or provide a response explaining why they are rejecting the petition.
The Quote: WILL Deputy Counsel Lucas Vebber said, “We can expect significant interest in absentee voting in 2020. This can be a positive development given the pandemic. But the Wisconsin Elections Commission should make clear that it is the responsibility and right of voters, not third parties, to request and submit ballots.”
Read More:
- Cover Letter, June 2020
- Petition for Rulemaking, June 2020
NOTE: This press release was submitted to Urban Milwaukee and was not written by an Urban Milwaukee writer. It has not been verified for its accuracy or completeness.
Recent Press Releases by Wisconsin Institute for Law & Liberty
WILL Wins Preliminary Injunction in Defense of 1st Amendment
Apr 7th, 2023 by Wisconsin Institute for Law & LibertyLawsuit is a part of WILL’s Preserving Democracy Project
WOW Will actually asking for something that is not RIGHT WING. Now let us see if they are willing to apply Standard Accounting Practices to voting. For beginners the total ballots printed less ballots sent out plus ballots returned minus spoiled ballots minus unused ballots equals ballots cast. Eliminates ballot stuffing. Have one election in each district manually checked at the end of voting to confirm immediately that at least in that race there was no machine tabulation error. All districts will use paper ballots that are marked by the individual or the individuals representative. TO provide a “secret” ballot for the blind allows for significant potential abuse as all voters because they must visually inspect their ballots before they are placed in the tabulation machine. The blind can vote in private by have a braille template to place over the ballot that allows then to vote in private if they wished. Also allow for the counting of mail in ballots each day so the results can be announced the day of the election.