MADISON, Wis. (AP) – Voters with disabilities in Wisconsin should be able to vote electronically, and denying them that option in the upcoming Aug. 13 primary and November presidential election is discriminatory. A lawsuit filed Tuesday in the battleground state argues that it is unconstitutional.
The lawsuit seeks to make electronic absentee voting an option for people with disabilities, as well as military and overseas voters. Under current Wisconsin law, people with disabilities “are treated unequally and face real and substantial hurdles to participating in absentee voting,” the lawsuit alleges.
Wisconsin Elections Commission approves guidance allowing voters with disabilities to receive assistance with absentee voting
In the battleground state of Wisconsin, where four of the past six presidential elections have been decided by less than 1 percentage point, absentee ballots — and who can return them and where — have become a political flashpoint. The Wisconsin Supreme Court is scheduled to hear arguments next month in a lawsuit seeking to overturn an earlier ruling banning absentee ballot drop-offs.
Poll workers sort through ballots at Kenosha City Hall in Kenosha, Wisconsin, on Election Day, November 3, 2020. The Wisconsin lawsuit alleges that voters with disabilities should be able to vote electronically and are not being offered that option. The upcoming primary election on Tuesday, August 13th and the presidential election in November 2024 are discriminatory and unconstitutional. The lawsuit, filed Tuesday, April 16, seeks to make electronic absentee voting an option for people with disabilities in Wisconsin, just like military and overseas voters. (Wong Maye-E/AP Photo)
A federal court sided with disability rights activists in 2022, saying the Voting Rights Act applies to Wisconsin voters who need help mailing or delivering absentee ballots because of a disability. . The ruling overturned a Wisconsin Supreme Court ruling that said only voters could return their ballots in person or by mail.
The new lawsuit was filed by four voters, the Wisconsin Disability Rights Group, and the League of Women Voters against the Wisconsin Elections Commission in Dane County Circuit Court. Riley Betterkind, a spokeswoman for the Board of Elections, declined to comment on the lawsuit.
Voters with disabilities must be able to vote electronically in order for Wisconsin to comply with various state and federal laws related to accommodations and equal access, the lawsuit claims. Electronic voting also ensures that people with disabilities are treated the same as other voters, the lawsuit claims.
Most people with disabilities cannot vote without assistance because most absentee ballots in Wisconsin are paper ballots, according to the complaint. If electronic voting is an option, people can vote in private, the lawsuit alleges.
“This unconstitutional flaw in Wisconsin’s absentee voting system is well known and remains unaddressed,” the lawsuit claims.
The lawsuit was filed by Donald Natske of Shorewood and Michael Christopher of Madison, both of whom are blind. Stacey Ellingen, an Oshkosh resident who has cerebral palsy. Tyler Engel, a Madison resident, has spinal muscular atrophy. The lawsuit alleges that all four individuals are unable to vote absentee ballots privately and independently.
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The lawsuit alleges that not providing electronic absentee voting to people with disabilities violates the state and federal constitutions, the Americans with Disabilities Act, and the federal Rehabilitation Act, and requires all organizations receiving federal financial assistance to discriminate on the basis of disability. They claim that it is prohibited to do so.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, people with disabilities make up about a quarter of the adult population in the United States. Many Republican-led states have passed restrictive voting laws in recent years, including excessive restrictions on what assistance voters can receive and whether others can return a voter’s mail-in ballot, making it difficult for people to get to the polls. It is embroiled in a dispute over access.
