New WEC guidance: No do-overs if you already turned in your absentee ballot
MILWAUKEE (CBS 58) — Once voters mail or return their absentee ballots, clerks should no longer allow those voters to "spoil" their ballots and receive new ones, according to new guidance adopted Thursday, July 9, by the Wisconsin Elections Commission (WEC).
Previously, it was up to individual clerks to decide whether to grant a voter's request to spoil a ballot, something state law allows absentee voters to do up to two times per election.
WEC Chair Don Millis said one issue was that some clerks were confused about whether to grant requests to spoil ballots that had already been returned, while others did not.
In 2022, candidates in a crowded Democratic primary for U.S. Senate dropped out one by one, clearing the field for Mandela Barnes. Voters who had already cast ballots for another candidate were left either knowing their vote would not count or trying to spoil their ballot and receive a new one.
Guidance shared by WEC in the summer of 2022 stated voters could spoil their ballots even if they had mailed them or delivered them to their clerk.
Millis told CBS 58 Friday that clerks had also frequently asked whether a candidate dropping out of a race was a legitimate reason to spoil a ballot.
"We think it should be uniform," Millis said. "Does it make sense for someone to be able to change their mind in, say, the city of Sun Prairie but not change their mind in the city of Milwaukee or West Bend?"
Originally, the guidance was to apply specifically to cases in which voters told clerks their preferred candidate had dropped out or something had happened in the campaign that made them change their minds.
However, Millis moved to adopt stricter guidance: If a ballot has already been mailed or dropped off at the clerk's office, that voter can no longer spoil it.
"[Spoiling received ballots] creates huge administrative nightmares," Millis said. "And when I spoke to the county clerks association about a month ago, they are the ones asking for more direct guidance, and this is a concern that many of them had."
The commission adopted the new guidance in a 4-2 vote. Democratic appointees Ann Jacobs and Mark Thomsen voted against it.
Thomsen said he believed it was unfair to deny voters the ability to spoil a ballot simply because they had already sent it.
"Just because I put it in the mail doesn't mean I can't fix my mistake," Thomsen said during the July 9 meeting. "Because to me, 'return' is when it goes in the machine to get counted. That's when you can't undo the count."
According to WEC data, 241,501 absentee ballots had been sent out as of Friday, and 42,657 ballots had been returned.
Put money on an election, then vote in it? That's a felony
Commissioners voted unanimously to approve an awareness campaign aimed at informing voters they could face a felony charge if they place a bet on a Wisconsin election and then vote in that same contest.
The issue has come to the forefront with the rise in popularity of prediction markets such as Kalshi and Polymarket. On those platforms, people can wager money on which candidate they think will win an election.
In Wisconsin, people are ineligible to vote in an election on which they have placed a bet or wager. Voting while ineligible is a felony offense.
The new WEC guidance states the commission considers money placed in prediction markets to be a form of betting. In the coming weeks, WEC will post messages on social media reminding voters not to make any type of election wager if they plan to cast a ballot.
"We don't allow bribes for the same reason," Jacobs said. "We want people to vote for the right reasons, not the wrong ones, and if you're voting because you think you're going to make money instead of for who should be the best candidate, that's bad."