MADISON, Wis. (SPECTRUM NEWS) -- As Wisconsin’s highest court decides whether to allow a candidate on the ballot, their decision could throw a wrench into the election process.
This may be the eleventh hour of ballot preparation: all over the state, clerks are printing their ballots. Some are already finished.
While Wisconsin Elections Administrator Meagan Wolfe was on a call with journalists, including Spectrum News 1, the Wisconsin Supreme Court released a decision that stopped the election process in its tracks.
One reporter broke the news to Wolfe and the other journalists. Everyone had been on the video call for more than 45 minutes, so all were unaware of the new development.
“I appreciate you letting me know,” Wolfe smiled hesitantly. “My phone's been buzzing like crazy in the last half-hour, so I assume that's probably what that's about.”
The Lawsuit
Green Party presidential candidate Howie Hawkins filed a lawsuit directly to the Wisconsin Supreme Court. In August, the bipartisan Wisconsin Elections Commission deadlocked on whether to allow him on the ballot.
Hawkins’ campaign paperwork had about 3,600 signatures. To get on the ballot, a candidate needs 2,000.
However, there was an incorrect address for the vice presidential candidate, Angela Walker. She said she was in the middle of a move at the time, leading to the incorrect address.
About 1,800 of those signatures were connected to Walker’s incorrect address. Without them, Hawkins’ campaign only had a total of about 1,700 signatures.
The commission deadlocked on whether those 1,700 signatures should be disqualified based on the incorrect address. The three Democrats argued they should be disqualified, while the three Republicans argued that Hawkins and Walker should be on the ballot anyway.
Ultimately, they could come to no decision. No decision became the decision: Hawkins was not put on the ballot.
Then, he filed a lawsuit directly to the Wisconsin Supreme Court.
The Ruling
The conservative-controlled court ruled Thursday afternoon that Wisconsin clerks cannot send out any ballots until the court gives its approval, or decides whether or not Hawkins should be on the ballot. It is not known when they will decide whether the ballots will need to be reprinted.
The court also asked for a list of who requested an absentee ballot and when. Wolfe said nearly one million Wisconsinites had requested an absentee ballot so far.
The court asked for that information to be given to them by Wolfe’s office by 5 p.m. Thursday, with about four hours’ notice.
The Impact
Here’s the problem: Wisconsin clerks are in the middle of printing their ballots now. Some are already finished.
About 300,000 absentee ballots are marked “sent” in the administration end of the My Vote system. That doesn’t necessarily mean it’s been sent; it just means the clerk has printed an address label for the ballot and envelope. However, it’s possible some of those clerks have sent off those ballots already.
All of the following comments from Wolfe are from before news broke of the court’s decision. Because reporters asked questions about possible outcomes of the lawsuits, Wolfe spoke in hypotheticals about what would happen if they needed to reprint ballots.
“Some counties have their ballots, almost completely printed and are now distributing those ballots to their municipal clerks, so that they can start actually sending them,” said Wolfe.
“We don't know yet whether or not ballots have been stuffed in the envelopes, whether those address labels are on envelopes yet,” said Wisconsin Elections Commission Public Information Officer Reid Magney.
Before the court made its decision, Wolfe said having to reprint ballots would be a big blow to all the work already done.
“Some of these places would have to pay for expedited printing, expedited delivery, because they're going to have to get back in the queue with their ballot printers,” Wolfe said. “Some jurisdictions have conveyed to us [reprinting] will result in additional costs. Then there are the additional costs of things like envelopes.”
On top of that, ballots must go out by next Thursday, September 17. Wisconsin law requires that absentee ballots be mailed to voters by 47 days before the election.
Wisconsin law requires specific types of paper, specific types of envelopes, and multiple ballot designs to create a ballot. Even just getting the raw materials could be difficult, according to Wolfe.
“If they have to procure additional envelopes, like we saw in April, it can sometimes be difficult to procure extras of these things in the supply chain that have to be a certain size, a certain paperweight,” Wolfe said. “So that would be an additional cost as well.”
What Happens If They Have to Reprint Ballots?
Wolfe said while there are some examples of ballots having to be reprinted in local elections, she doesn’t remember anything like that happening statewide.
She said the state has procedures in place if clerks end up having to send out a second ballot.
“From time to time, there are smaller jurisdictions or contests where either there was a mistake in printing the ballots, or somebody is added on perhaps or taken off the ballot due to litigation,“ Wolfe said. “There's what we call an A and a B ballot situation.”
Officials have procedures to use if voters have already received their ballot, but they need to be reprinted and resent. That helps clerks determine whether a ballot is valid, and who has voted already, and with which ballot. “A Ballot” refers to the first version of a ballot, “B Ballot” refers to the second reprinted version.
Wolfe said if a voter returns a B ballot, that’s what will get counted. But if a voter already returned their A ballot, that would be okay, and their ballot would be counted.
“Because we have a statewide voter registration system, we’re able to make sure that only one vote would ever be attributed to each individual voter.”