MADISON, Wis. — A chaotic Democratic primary for Wisconsin governor that has seen numerous candidates drop out and re-enter the race has threatened to leave thousands of voters who have already returned their ballots with worthless votes for the state’s top office.
That possibility prompted the state Democratic Party on Tuesday to make a plea to the state elections commission, urging it to allow voters who already cast an absentee ballot to vote again. More than 80,000 ballots have already been returned.
The request is all-but certain to result in a lawsuit with the primary just three weeks away.
Democrats want to allow voters to cast new ballots after Lt. Gov. Sara Rodriguez, a Democrat, ended her campaign for governor on Friday and another candidate, Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley, rejoined the race with the endorsement of current Gov. Tony Evers. There are now five Democratic candidates actively campaigning for governor ahead of the Aug. 11 primary.
Any voter who already returned an absentee ballot cast for Rodriguez would not be able to get a new ballot, based on guidance approved by the bipartisan Wisconsin Elections Commission earlier this month. The guidance was adopted after another Democratic candidate for governor, Missy Hughes, dropped out in June. Both Rodriguez and Hughes remain on the ballot even though they have ended their campaigns.
The winner of the Democratic primary for governor is likely to face Republican U.S. Rep. Tom Tiffany, who has only token opposition. The seat is open after Evers decided against seeking a third term. Democrats hope to retain the office and flip both chambers of the Legislature to gain full control of state government for the first time since 2010.
Democrats say absentee voters must be allowed to vote again
The Democratic Party argues that the commission’s guidance must be rescinded because it reversed its own rule that was in place four years ago and is inconsistent with a 2006 U.S. Supreme Court ruling. That ruling said voting rules should not be changed close to an election.
If the elections commission does not reverse itself and allow for new absentee ballots to be cast, “some voters will not be able to truly participate in our Democratic primary process,” Democratic Party Chairman Devin Remiker said in a statement.
He said the party asked for the reversal after checking with all five of the candidates actively campaigning for the Democratic nomination for governor.
Rodriguez ended her campaign after discovering that she had far less money on hand than she thought. She blamed her campaign manager for double counting donations and underreporting expenses. A day after she dropped out, Crowley rejoined the race. He had gotten out on July 8 and endorsed Rodriguez.
Both Crowley and Hughes were at the bottom of the field in public opinion polls before they dropped out. Hughes ended her campaign June 22 and said Democrats needed to coalesce around a candidate who could win in November. She endorsed Rodriguez, who then dropped out less than a month later.
Absentee voting by mail has been going on since late June and early in-person voting begins on July 28.
Fight over recasting absentee ballots dates to 2022
The rarely used practice known as ballot spoiling was the subject of a lawsuit in 2022. A Waukesha County judge sided with a Republican group that brought the lawsuit, ruling in October 2022 that the elections commission must rescind its guidance allowing for spoiling of ballots. But a state appeals court put that on hold just weeks before the midterm election that year.
And then in February, a state appeals court repealed the ruling, saying the lawsuit was not properly served. The appeals court did not address the merits of the case.
Despite that ruling, the elections commission voted 4-2 to prohibit voters who have already turned in their absentee ballot from getting a new one. One Democratic commissioner joined with three Republicans in voting in favor of the prohibition. Two Democrats voted against it.
It’s rare for absentee voters in Wisconsin to seek a new ballot
There’s no way to know how many of the spoiled ballots were from Democrats or Republicans because voters in Wisconsin do not register by party. Voters who obtained an absentee ballot, but have not yet voted and want to obtain a new one, can still do that.
Previously in Wisconsin, voters who had submitted an absentee ballot could spoil it and cast a new ballot up to three times for any reason. But it very rarely happened.
From the 2018 midterms through the 2022 primary, less than 1% of all votes cast were done by people who cast a new absentee ballot after spoiling an earlier one, data from the Wisconsin Elections Commission showed.
