The Wisconsin State Court of Appeals on Monday stayed a ruling that would have allowed voters with print disabilities to request and receive accessible mail-in ballots in the November 2024 general election.
At the request of the Republican-controlled Wisconsin state legislature, the appeals court stayed a preliminary injunction issued in late June by Dane County Judge Everett Mitchell that required Wisconsin state election officials to allow the provision of electronically delivered mail-in ballots that can be completed using assistive technology.
“The creation of confusion that could well result from imposing (new) goals on (the Wisconsin Elections Commission), local officials and voters in the weeks leading up to the national election in November poses a significant risk of causing more harm than good, even for voters with print disabilities,” Monday’s order said.
Mitchell’s now-suspended injunction was part of a lawsuit filed in April by Disability Rights Wisconsin, the League of Women Voters of Wisconsin and four individual voters challenging the inaccessibility of Wisconsin’s mail-in voting system under the state and federal constitutions and federal disability rights laws.
The lawsuit emphasized that the state already allows military members and voters overseas to receive absentee ballots by mail, so adding this option for people with printing disabilities — such as blindness or manual dexterity limitations — would not be an undue burden on election officials.
The lawsuit also alleged that the state’s lack of accessibility of electronic mail-in ballots violates the right of disabled voters to cast a secret ballot because they are often forced to seek assistance in completing and submitting their ballots, which compromises their independence and privacy.
But in Monday’s ruling lifting Mitchell’s injunction, the appeals court found: “The record does not appear to provide any reason to believe that if we stay the injunction, any of the defendants will be prevented from voting in the November election.”
“The fact that they may be able to do so only with the help of another person is the same premise under which they have regularly and successfully voted, even if it is less private and independent than they would like,” the order continues.
While Mitchell’s injunction allowed voters with print disabilities to request and complete their absentee ballots electronically, it still required those voters to return their materials by mail or in person. The appeals court concluded that the injunction “does not appear to significantly enhance voting independence and privacy” because voters may still need assistance returning their completed absentee ballots.
However, disability rights activists praised Mitchell’s ruling as an important step in the right direction toward providing voters with disabilities more privacy and independence when voting by mail.
In an emailed statement to Democracy Docket, Debra Cronmiller, executive director of the League of Women Voters Wisconsin, said, “The League is disappointed in (the appeals court’s) decision. We believe that voters with disabilities have the right to vote privately and independently. We will continue to fight to ensure that all voters in Wisconsin have the right to vote.”
Both the Wisconsin State Legislature and the Wisconsin State Election Commission had appealed Mitchell’s June order, but only the Wisconsin State Legislature requested a stay pending the outcome of the appeal.
Although Monday’s ruling likely rules out relief for the 2024 election, litigation that could determine the availability of electronic mail-in voting for Wisconsin residents with printing disabilities in future election cycles will continue.
Read the order here.
Learn more about the case here.
Original post, June 25
Under a preliminary injunction issued today by Dane County Judge Everett Mitchell, voters with disabilities in the state of Wisconsin will be able to request and receive accessible mail-in ballots in the November 2024 election.
As a result of Mitchell’s ruling yesterday following a hearing, Wisconsin election officials must facilitate the provision of electronically delivered, accessible mail-in ballots to voters with printing disabilities.
Print disabilities include blindness, visual impairment, intellectual disability, and other manual dexterity impairments that prevent certain voters from reading, marking, or handling a ballot independently.
Mitchell’s order is part of a lawsuit filed in April by Disability Rights Wisconsin, the League of Women Voters of Wisconsin and four individual voters challenging the lack of accessibility of Wisconsin’s mail-in voting system under the state and federal constitutions and federal disability rights laws.
The ruling clarified that an electronically submitted ballot is “accessible” only if it “can be read and manipulated, including completed, by voters with a print disability using digital assistive technology such as a screen reader.” Mitchell also determined that while voters with print disabilities can receive and complete their ballots electronically using an accessible device at home, they must return them either by mail or in person.
Before today’s injunction, Wisconsin had not provided voters with printing disabilities the option to obtain and complete their mail-in ballots electronically. Instead, electronic mail voting was reserved only for voters in the military and overseas.
According to the lawsuit, the state’s lack of access to electronic mail-in voting from home harms voters with literacy disabilities and elderly voters, who are often forced to seek assistance in completing and submitting their ballots, in a way that violates their independence and privacy in casting their ballots.
Debra Cronmiller, executive director of the League of Women Voters Wisconsin, previously told Democracy Docket that introducing electronic voting for people with print disabilities would not place too great a burden on state election officials.
“It’s not like WEC or its staff have to develop or buy new equipment or new mechanisms to get ballots into the hands of the people who need them,” Cronmiller said. “It’s literally about the laws that prohibit electronic ballots from being issued to anyone who is not overseas or in the military.”
Mitchell’s injunction applies to Wisconsin’s November general election, but not the state’s Aug. 13 primary. Today’s ruling continues the legal battle over whether state election officials must permanently provide voters with print disabilities with the ability to receive, complete and return their mail-in ballots electronically.
Read the order here.
Learn more about the case here.
