Wisconsin Approves Sending out Absentee Ballot Applications to Registered Voters

The Wisconsin Elections Commission has approved plans to mail out ballot applications for over 2.7 million of the state’s registered voters.

On Wednesday, six committee members voted unanimously following a public video conference.

The committee reached the agreement to send out ballot applications and prepaid envelopes to a total of 2,714,000 registered voters. The plan follows Wisconsin’s presidential primary on April 7.

At the time, the state faced a surge of applications from residents requesting to vote by mail after the Wisconsin Supreme Court overturned Gov. Tony Evers (D) executive order attempting to postpone the election, as previously reported on IJR.

“Based on experiences in March and April of this year, voters new to the absentee process often have difficulty understanding how to request, complete, and return an absentee ballot,” Wisconsin Election Commission staff wrote in the proposal.

The proposal also recommended sending out information explaining how voters can submit applications for absentee ballots online.

“In addition, many organizations – both partisan and non-partisan – often send Wisconsin voters incomplete or misleading information about the absentee voting process,” it added.

The latest ballot application approval plan comes amid heightened criticism of mail-in voting from President Donald Trump. Back in April, the president urged Republicans to fight against mail-in voting, as previously reported on IJR.

“Republicans should fight very hard when it comes to statewide mail-in voting. Democrats are clamoring for it,” Trump tweeted. “Tremendous potential for voter fraud, and for whatever reason, doesn’t work out well for Republicans.”

While “no evidence” suggests mail-in voting results in widespread voter fraud, as California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) put it, the president has repeatedly made that implication, expressing his concerns on Twitter.

In fact, Trump’s recent claims about voter fraud were flagged by Twiter with a fact check label.

However, mail-in voting is legal in the United States. It is also important to note that the president, himself, has also voted by mail.