Liberal judge alters election law in battleground Wisconsin months before election

WATERTOWN, Wis. — A Dane County Circuit Court judge who once said people who steal from big-box stores shouldn’t be prosecuted ruled that disabled Wisconsin voters can request and download electronic ballots, a change that could cause election-administration problems in the battleground state this November.

Judge Everett Mitchell, who also serves as a pastor in Madison and ran for state Supreme Court last year — losing in a five-way primary — issued a temporary injunction last week covering the Nov. 5 election, effectively modifying a portion of the election-administration landscape in a state that struggled with absentee-ballot tabulation in the last presidential election.

Wisconsin Circuit Court Judge Everett Mitchell once said big box stores shouldn’t prosecute for theft. Getty Images for P&G

Mitchell issued a temporary injunction last week covering the Nov. 5 election. AP

Voters with print disabilities who self-certify they cannot read or complete a ballot without assistance can request electronic ballots from their election clerks, which they can complete with the use of assistive technology and mail back, thanks to the injunction.

The ruling leaves clerks in almost 2,000 municipalities with little time to make the adjustment.

Democratic Attorney General Josh Kaul’s deputy attorneys argued that the change in law could cause confusion and create security risks.

Wisconsin’s election administration is somewhat decentralized, with 72 county clerks and more than 1,800 municipal clerks responsible.

Absentee ballots have to be tabulated on election day in Wisconsin by law. Anadolu via Getty Images Anadolu via Getty Images

Current state law allows military and overseas voters to request absentee ballots and mail the paper ballots back.

Before the injunction, disabled voters would have used the same process as any absentee voter: request an absentee ballot from a local election clerk, receive and complete the paper ballot sent via mail, and drop off the ballot at the clerk’s office or mail it back.

Republican state legislators filed an appeal in conservative Waukesha County, arguing, among other things, Judge Mitchell is disrupting the status quo months before a major election.

Almost 2,000 municipal clerks will have to make adjustments for electronic ballots for disabled voters before the election. Getty Images

Unless or until the appeal is upheld, clerks will be scrambling to adjust to the new absentee-ballot law in Wisconsin, with the specter of the 2020 presidential election and Donald Trump’s Wisconsin lawsuit hanging in the background.

The Wisconsin Elections Commission declined to comment on ongoing litigation. The Republican National Committee election-integrity director did not respond to a request for comment.