7/30/22 Absentee Voting Guidelines
30 July 2022 News
Ripon, WI, – The League of Women Voters of the Ripon area would like to offer some information on revised process for absentee voting ballots. On July 8, the Wisconsin Supreme Court ruled in Teigen v. WEC that unstaffed absentee ballot dropboxes are no longer permitted in Wisconsin.
The court also ruled that someone else cannot return another person’s absentee ballot in-person on their behalf, although federal laws still protect the rights of disabled voters to receive assistance in returning their ballot. The court declined to take up the issue of whether voters without disabilities can get assistance putting their ballots in the mail. This means the status quo remains; someone can still mail their absentee ballot by directing a family member or friend to put their ballot into a mailbox.
This means voters will not be able to use dropboxes. Instead, you have multiple options to return absentee ballots:
- Mail in your absentee ballot as soon as possible;
- Return it yourself in-person to their municipal clerk’s office;
- Return it yourself in-person to an early voting (also called in-person absentee voting) location during early voting hours; or
- Return it yourself in-person on Election Day to their polling location (if the city/town does not have central count) or to their central count location (if their city/town has central count).
The times and locations for returning your absentee ballot vary by municipality. For more information, you can contact your clerk using this link: myvote.wi.gov/my-Municipal-Clerk.
- If a voter with a disability needs someone else to mail their ballot, they should feel comfortable doing so. We encourage voters to complete and mail their ballot as soon as possible to allow time for mail delivery.
- If a voter with a disability needs assistance with ballot delivery, we recommend they contact their clerk and ask for a disability related accommodation. A sample accommodation request for ballot drop off is available here as a Word document. Find your clerk here.
- Voters with questions or concerns may contact the Disability Rights Wisconsin Voter Hotline: 844-347-8683 or email info@disabilityvote.org
- Read “Our Voices, Our Votes: Disabled Voters Speak Out on Voting Rights and Ballot Return Assistance” here.
Have a voting plan:
- Contact your local clerk here: myvote.wi.gov/my-Municipal-Clerk
- Encourage voters to contact the Election Protection hotline if they run into any issues, call the Election Protection hotline: 866-OUR-VOTE
- Within one week of Election Day, voters should return their absentee ballot in-person or vote in-person, as USPS may fail to deliver the ballot to the clerk in time.
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