MADISON, Wis. (AP) 鈥� Wisconsin voters who have already returned their absentee ballots for the state’s primary are not allowed to void those and , a judge ruled Wednesday.
The ruling deals a blow to Democrats, who filed a lawsuit seeking to give voters a do-over because of a in the governor鈥檚 race.
More than 117,000 absentee ballots had been returned by Wednesday. Democrats were concerned that many of those might have been cast for Lt. Gov. Sara Rodriguez, who had been seen as a Democratic frontrunner before she on July 17 amid a campaign finance scandal. A day later, Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley, who had bowed out on July 8,
Rodriguez鈥檚 name remains on the ballot, along with former state economic development director Missy Hughes, who dropped out in June.
The bipartisan Wisconsin Elections Commission voted 4-2 on July 9 to distribute guidance to clerks saying absentee voters cannot change their ballot after it has been returned. The rarely used process is known as ballot spoiling.
Democrats objected and supported the lawsuit filed by three voters, arguing that state law allows voters who have submitted absentee ballots to change their mind before those ballots are counted on Election Day.
鈥淰oters across Wisconsin will be disenfranchised鈥� if not allowed to do that, attorney Eduardo Castro argued in court on Tuesday.
But Dane County Circuit Judge David Conway disagreed, ruling on Wednesday that 鈥渢he unambiguous language of the statute does not allow a voter to spoil an absentee ballot after it is returned.鈥� He said the guidance issued by the elections commission to the roughly 2,000 clerks who run elections at the local level was consistent with the law.
The judge declined to issue a temporary restraining order sought by Democrats. They had wanted the judge to order the state elections commission to rescind its guidance.
鈥淭he judge got it right,鈥� said Don Millis, the Republican chair of the elections commission. 鈥淭he law is clear. Once a voter returns an absentee ballot to the clerk, the voter cannot decide to change his or her vote. The law does not permit do-overs.鈥�
Wisconsin Democratic Party Chair Devin Remiker said the ruling was wrong, but didn’t say if the party would appeal.
The Republican National Committee opposed the effort to allow for revoting.
Ballot spoiling was the subject of a 2022 . In that case, a Waukesha County judge agreed that the elections commission must rescind its guidance that allowed voters to cast a second ballot. But the state appeals court earlier this year vacated that ruling on technical grounds and did not rule on the merits.
The winner of the Democratic primary will advance to November鈥檚 general election, most likely against Republican U.S. Rep. Tom Tiffany, who has only token opposition in his party鈥檚 primary. Democratic Gov. Tony Evers is not seeking a third term.
Democrats hope to keep the governor鈥檚 office and flip both chambers of the Legislature to of state government for the first time since 2010.
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This story corrects the spelling in a second reference to ‘Rodriguez.鈥�
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