MADISON, Wis. — A new lawsuit asks a state court to allow absentee voters whose ballots are late in the mail to go the polls in person on Election Day and cast replacement ballots. The replacement ballots would be provisional, depending on when and if the U.S. Postal Service delivers the original ballots. The suit was filed in Dane County by:
> League of Women Voters of Wisconsin.
> Madison-based law firm Law Forward.
> Washington, D.C.-based Fair Elections Center.
The suit reflects growing concern that President Trump will use the U.S. Postal Service to interfere with voting in the November election. The suit aims to tighten up Wisconsin practices that Trump could use disqualify a cohort of voters he suspects as unfriendly.
Current practice
In Wisconsin, ballots must arrive at the county clerks’ offices by the end of voting on Election Day. In last April’s election. more than 300 ballots in Milwaukee and more than 100 in Fond du Lac were rejected for arriving too late. The new suit argues that ballos postmarks on Election Day must be honored/ So too should be provisional in-person absentee ballots if the originals are “lost” in the mails but known to have been mailed on time through electronic tracking;.