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Someone may be able to use the state’s absentee ballot system to request a ballot that’s not theirs — as two people trying to poke holes in the state’s election system apparently did illegally this week — but getting away with voter fraud is not so easy.
Absentee ballots can be requested from municipal clerks through the Wisconsin Election Commission’s MyVote.wi.gov website, in writing using a paper form called Application For Absentee Ballot, or by sending a letter or email to the voter’s local municipal clerk, which can be found on the MyVote website.
Voters need to provide a copy of their photo ID with the ballot request.
Once requested, absentee ballots are never automatically sent to voters, and are never sent by the state; they are sent by municipal clerks and only after the clerks have reviewed the application and photo ID.
State law says that an absentee voter only needs to submit a photo ID with their first request for an absentee ballot by mail. Those IDs are kept on file by the municipal clerk, and the voter is not required to submit an ID again with their written or email request unless they re-register to vote.
The Elections Commission encourages voters to check their own voting record on MyVote to ensure that someone else has not used a voter’s ballot illegally. If an illegally obtained absentee ballot were submitted, and the actual voter also submitted a ballot or showed up to vote on Election Day, election workers would flag the duplication and the matter would be referred for criminal prosecution.
After at least two people admitted fraudulently ordering absentee ballots for others this week, the commission is also reviewing all absentee ballot requests entered into the MyVote system for any unusual trends or unlawful behavior. It will also continue to flag incoming requests that have unusual mailing addresses for further review.
If fraud is suspected, law enforcement agencies can pursue investigations into election law violations on their own, without a request from the commission.
The Electronic Registration Information Center (ERIC) provides the commission with information on voters suspected to have voted twice in the same election. Those can also be referred to a district attorney.
A two-thirds majority of the WEC is required to make a referral to law enforcement.
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Ed Treleven is the courts reporter for the Wisconsin State Journal.
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Harry Wait, the president of the conservative group Honest Open Transparent Government, said he ordered ballots online for people including Assembly Speaker Robin Vos and Racine Mayor Cory Mason and asked that they be delivered to his home.
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