Wisconsin Democrats call for WEC to retract guidance cutting down on absentee ballot do-overs

MILWAUKEE (CBS 58) -- Following a chaotic week in the Democratic primary for Wisconsin governor, one of the offshoots is thousands of voters may have cast ballots for a candidate who's no longer in the race.

The state Democratic party is now calling for elections officials to undo recently adopted guidance that clerks should not allow voters to get a do-over if they've already submitted their absentee ballot. Under state law, absentee voters are allowed to spoil their ballot and get a new one as many as two times during an election cycle.

In a letter to the Wisconsin Elections Commission (WEC) dated July 22, the Democratic Party of Wisconsin argues the new guidance WEC adopted on July 10 violates state statutes.

The state party's communications director, Philip Shulman, told CBS 58 Tuesday Wisconsin Democrats are considering filing a lawsuit if WEC doesn't retract the guidance.

"We are currently working with our legal team to figure out what next step we might want to take, depending on what WEC ultimately decides," Shulman said. "Thankfully, these are guidelines, it's not the law, so we do have legal routes to go down should we so choose."

WEC's governing body of six commissioners voted 4-2 to adopt the new guidance on July 10. Chair Don Millis, a GOP appointee, told CBS 58 Tuesday he had no plans of revisiting the decision.

Millis said one of his biggest concerns was allowing voters to throw out ballots they already cast would create chaos for clerks and inevitably lead to mistakes.

"The more you handle ballots, the more you open up the sealed bags in which they're located or the sealed storage areas," Millis said. "You're inviting opportunities for error."

Democratic appointee Ann Jacobs was in the minority and posted on X Tuesday about her continued opposition to the new guidance. Jacobs was concerned the vote came with absentee voting already underway.

"Quite simply, we should never do this to voters," Jacobs wrote. "We shouldn't change the rules in the middle of an election."

Some critics of the Democratic party's involvement maintain it's a push by party elites to boost Crowley by allowing Rodriguez supporters a do-over.

Crowley initially suspended his campaign and endorsed Rodriguez, but after a financial calamity sunk Rodriguez's campaign, Democratic power brokers, including top lawmakers, urged Crowley to get back in the race.

Crowley restarted his campaign after securing the endorsement of Gov. Tony Evers, which sources told CBS 58 was a condition Crowley had set for returning to the race.

Hong's campaign manager, Becky Cooper, told CBS 58 the campaign had seen the letter and was supportive of what the Democratic party leaders were seeking to accomplish.

Spokespersons for Crowley and State Sen. Kelda Roys also told CBS 58 they were contacted by the party and supported the push to have WEC undo the new guidance.

However, a spokesperson for former Evers cabinet official Joel Brennan said they did not have an opportunity to review the letter before it went public. The Barnes campaign did respond to questions from CBS 58 Tuesday.

What can we learn from the new Marquette poll?

The chaos from the past 10 days also threw a wrench in the newest release of the Marquette Law School Poll. A new snapshot of the governor's race will come out Wednesday, but pollsters were asking questions between July 8-16, according to poll director Charles Franklin.

The poll was conducted during a time when Rodriguez was still in the race and Crowley had bowed out. Much of questioning even happened before Rodriguez's money mishap came to light on July 13.

"We have no information on Crowley through all that period," Franklin said. "Most of the interviews had been completed before that time, so we don't actually capture much of the reaction to her campaign's financial problems."

Still, Franklin maintained there is still plenty of useful info to glean from the new poll. It will include hypothetical head-to-head matchups between the presumptive GOP nominee, Congressman Tom Tiffany, and the Democratic candidates except for Crowley.

The July poll will also measure just how much more familiar voters have become with the candidates. The most recent MU poll was in March, and Hong and Barnes led the way with 14% and 11% of voters' support, respectively. Crowley and Rodriguez followed at 3% each.

"While I'm sure that people will be more familiar with the candidates now than they were in March, don't be surprised if a lot of people are still undecided and not all that familiar with folks," Franklin said. "Because what we've seen in the past is it's really that last month of the campaign that people tune in."