Mequon election workers employed an unusually strict standard for judging the validity of witness addresses on absentee ballot envelopes, a standard not used elsewhere in Wisconsin and deemed illegal by the Wisconsin Elections Commission.

Uneven Application of the Standard

The standard, which required a state or ZIP code and a unique municipality name, was applied unevenly, resulting in the initial rejection of ballots that did not appear ambiguous. In one case, poll workers accepted a ballot with the same missing witness-address information as a ballot they had rejected.

According to a review of hundreds of absentee ballot envelopes, dozens of ballots were initially rejected since 2024 due to the strict standard. However, many of these ballots were later counted after the Wisconsin Elections Commission ordered Mequon to stop applying the standard.

Defense of the Policy

Mequon officials defended the rejections, stating that voters are responsible for following the rules. Nancy Martin, a chief inspector at a Mequon polling place, said that absentee voting is a privilege, not a right, and that voters must ensure they provide complete information.

However, the Wisconsin Elections Commission has said that clerks should not reject ballots simply because the witness address does not include a state or ZIP code. The commission’s interpretation is based on a 2024 court ruling that an address is sufficient as long as a clerk can reasonably discern where the witness lives.

Original reporting: Wisconsin Watch — read the source article.