League of Women Voters of Wis. v. WEC

Case Summary

On September 30, 2022, Law Forward – with the Fair Elections Center – filed a complaint on behalf of the League of Women Voters of Wisconsin in Dane County Circuit Court, seeking both clarity and protection for absentee voters whose ballots have technical defects.

The denial of the right to vote for the omission of certain witness address components, like state names and zip codes, would violate the 1964 Civil Rights Act’s prohibition on denying a vote based on immaterial omission or error. And the lack of notice to voters whose ballots are threatened with rejection to a defective witness address violates the U.S. Constitution’s due process requirements.

Recent anti-democratic litigation on this issue has resulted in confusion in the weeks before an election. Our aim is to obtain certainty for voters and the municipal clerks who do the critical work of administering Wisconsin’s elections and to make sure that every eligible voter may have their voice heard in November.

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