Every vote counts, and every vote should be counted.
We are prosecuting a class action lawsuit on behalf of absentee voters in the City of Madison who were denied the right to vote in the 2024 presidential election. That litigation process commenced with the service of claims notices on the City of Madison and Dane County.
According to a letter sent by the City of Madison’s Clerk’s Office to the Wisconsin Elections Commission, 193 absentee votes were discovered in sealed courier bags after the November 5, 2024, election — while there was still time for the votes to be counted and included in state’s final official canvass. But no action was taken, and all 193 voters were deprived of their right to vote.
Our clients were disenfranchised through no fault of their own. Many of these uncounted votes belonged to University of Wisconsin students in downtown Madison. The students were voting in their very first presidential election and perhaps one of the most consequential elections of their lives. Some of them had
worked hard to turn out the vote during this election cycle. Although their votes were all cast diligently and properly, none of their votes were counted. The harm they suffered is significant and cannot be repaired.
In election after election, anti-democracy forces have worked to toss Wisconsinites off the voter rolls, add roadblocks to the voting process, and even discard hundreds of thousands of validly cast absentee ballots. We are still investigating, but this does not appear to be the type of coordinated effort to toss out ballots like we saw in the 2020 presidential election. These officials have a long record of protecting voting rights, but this lawsuit sends a clear message to anyone seeking to interfere with a Wisconsinite’s right to vote: there will be a price to pay.
Are you one of the 193 voters whose absentee ballot wasn’t counted for the Nov. 5, 2024 election?
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