Democrats urge WEC to rescind rule barring absentee ballot revotes

MADISON - The Democratic Party of Wisconsin is asking state election officials to immediately rescind guidance that bars voters from changing their ballots ahead of the Aug. 11 primary election if their preferred candidates drop out.

The move comes after tens of thousands of voters had already returned their ballots before the Democratic primary race for governor imploded last week when one of the frontrunners dropped out and a candidate who had previously exited the race jumped back in.

The request, delivered to Wisconsin Elections Commission chairman Don Millis in a letter on Tuesday, is all but certain to trigger a high-stakes legal battle just three weeks ahead of the primary election.

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"The Democratic Party of Wisconsin has an interest in ensuring that its voters have a valid voice in the primary elections," Diane Welsh, a Madison-based attorney representing the state Democratic Party, wrote in the July 21 letter to Millis.

"The ability of voters to spoil their ballots after they have been submitted to their clerks will advance this interest. And, the ability to obtain new ballots protects the voters’ right to meaningfully participate in the democratic process."

Millis told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel he has no plans to call a meeting to discuss changing the guidance and called the Democratic Party's letter "disingenuous."

"The statute is pretty clear that accident or mistake is contemplated," Millis said. Millis argued the commission's July action clarified guidance but did not change it.

"(State law) contemplates that you were to return a spoiled ballot, one that you've made a mistake on, and get a new one. It's not after you return it, a ballot that you believed was appropriate and properly prepared."

The bipartisan state Elections Commission, which oversees election administration in the state, voted 4-2 on July 9 to issue guidance limiting voters' ability to "spoil" their ballots only in limited circumstances that do not include deciding to vote for another candidate.

The commission's guidance follows a years-long legal dispute over the practice and came after two candidates in the Democratic gubernatorial primary − former Wisconsin Economic Development Corp. CEO Missy Hughes and Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley − ended their campaigns.

Crowley has since revived his campaign after one of the field's frontrunners, Lt. Gov. Sara Rodriguez, dropped out after revealing to the public her campaign was broke.

Ann Jacobs, a Democratic member of the commission who voted against the July 9 guidance, disagreed with Millis' analysis of the commission's actions.

"Quite simply, we should never do this to voters. We shouldn't change the rules in the middle of an election. We shouldn't tell a court one thing & the voters another. Federal courts have long recognized the importance of NOT doing exactly this," Jacobs said in a post on X.

The state Democratic Party argues the new guidance should be rescinded because it reverses the commission's own rule that was in place in 2022 and is inconsistent with a 2006 U.S. Supreme Court ruling that argued voting rules should not be changed close to an election, which the commission has cited in other litigation, according to the party's attorney.

In a statement, Democratic Party of Wisconsin chairman Devin Remiker said the party is making the request after consulting with Democratic candidates for governor. Remiker said if the commission does not reverse its guidance, "some voters will not be able to truly participate in our Democratic primary process."

"Allowing voters to spoil and recast their ballots was standard practice in Wisconsin prior to attempts by Republicans to file frivolous lawsuits to muddy the waters," he said.

More than 80,000 voters who requested absentee ballots have already returned them as of July 21, according to Wisconsin Elections Commission data.

Previously, Wisconsin voters had the ability to cancel their previously submitted ballot and request a new one for any reason, up to three times. That changed in October 2022 when then-Waukesha County Circuit Judge Brad Schimel ruled the practice, called "ballot spoiling," was illegal.

The 2nd District Court of Appeals then put the circuit court ruling on hold, and ruled earlier this year to reverse Schimel's decision. The appeals court's February 2026 decision did not address the merits of the case, but found the lawsuit was not properly served in the first place.

The commission voted earlier this month to specify that a voter may not cancel their previously submitted ballot and request a new one because they changed their mind or because their candidate has since dropped out.

Millis, the Republican chairman of the commission, said once voters have reached the point of returning their ballots, they may no longer change them.

Two Democratic commissioners voted against the rule.

"Why are we treating people that mail it in differently than somebody who shows up?" Democratic commissioner Mark Thomsen argued in the July 9 meeting, noting voters at the polls can request a new ballot twice while they are voting.

Millis said he viewed the difference as absentee voters have already submitted their ballots.

"If you're sitting at your kitchen table and you realize that you voted for two candidates in the same election, you can go back and say, I need a different ballot. I made a mistake. Or if your significant other spilled coffee on your ballot, you say, I need another ballot. That's fine. Once you've turned your ballot in, that's it."

This is a developing story and will be updated.

Clara Strecker of the Journal Sentinel contributed to this report.

Molly Beck can be reached at [email protected].

This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Democrats urge WEC to rescind rule barring absentee ballot revotes