November 2024 Voter Guide
VOTE VIA DROP BOX
Use a drop box to safely and securely return your absentee ballot. Wisconsin municipalities are permitted to provide ballot drop boxes.
For drop box locations and rules regarding when you need to return your ballot in your municipality, please contact your local clerk.
How Law Forward has protected your right to vote via drop box:
Fabick v. WEC
In a last-minute legal challenge to established election procedures in 2021, Fabick asked the Court to ban drop boxes. Law Forward, representing the Voting Rights Coalition, asked the court to deny Fabick’s petition – and we won.
Carey v. WEC
In 2022, we filed suit in federal court to make clear that the law protects voters with disabilities. Voters with disabilities enjoy the right to vote, and to do so free from discrimination, which includes choosing someone to assist them when voting absentee.
Priorities USA v. WEC
This 2024 case considers whether absentee-ballot dropboxes are legal, similar to the Teigen matter. We represented the same clients and showed how ballot drop boxes reduce inequalities in Wisconsin’s voting system. They provide safe and effective methods for ballot return, especially for voters with disabilities, voters of color, and rural voters who face additional challenges in accessing polling locations.
Teigen v. WEC
In 2021, we represented Disability Rights Wisconsin, the League of Women Voters of Wisconsin, and Wisconsin Faith Voices for Justice this drop box case. Wisconsin law allows local clerks to provide multiple options to return a completed, sealed absentee ballot; including in person, sending their ballot via USPS, or returning it to their clerk at a designated drop box.
VOTE BY MAIL
Vote Absentee by Mail. If you have requested and received an absentee ballot, you may return your ballot by USPS. We recommend mailing your ballot at least 1 week prior to election day because absentee ballots must be received by election day to be counted – but if you miss that window, you can always return your ballot by delivering it to your clerk, to an early voting site, to a drop box, or to your assigned voting place on election day.
How Law Forward has protected your right to vote by mail:
White v. WEC
In 2022, longstanding guidance from the Wisconsin Elections Commission that permitted municipal clerks and their staffs to cure minor errors in witness addresses on absentee ballot certificates was challenged. We successfully intervened in the case on behalf of the League of Women Voters of Wisconsin to argue that clerks needed to be permitted to make such corrections to ensure the ballots would be counted in accordance with federal law. The Civil Rights Act of 1964 is clear: votes cannot be thrown out because of immaterial defects like an incomplete or missing witness address.
Oldenburg v. WEC
In 2024, Oldenburg sued the Wisconsin Elections Commission, seeking to add additional procedures to an existing, multi-step process that a voter must already take to vote absentee. These procedures have been in place in Wisconsin for almost two decades. On behalf of our clients, Disability Rights Wisconsin and the League of Women Voters of Wisconsin, we asserted that absentee voting is a protected option for all eligible voters.
Martin v. Grill
In 2023, we filed a Wisconsin Elections Commission complaint against the City of West Allis, which unlawfully requested Photo ID for anyone returning an absentee ballot, and marking the ballots of those voters who do not produce an ID. All absentee voting is subject to strong protections including the requirement that the voter be observed by a witness who swears to their identity and the voting procedure.
League of Women Voters of Wis. v. WEC
In 2022, on behalf of the League of Women Voters of Wisconsin and the Fair Elections Center, we filed a complaint with the Wisconsin Elections Commission seeking both clarity and protection for absentee voters whose ballots have technical defects.
Peters v. Goergen
In 2022, our client Brian Peters attempted to return his wife’s absentee ballot to their normal polling place on election day, only to be told that election officials would not accept the ballot and that it had to be delivered to city hall. Due to vague language in the Wisconsin Supreme Court’s opinion in Tiegen, the City of Greenfield and other municipalities have prohibited the delivery of absentee ballots to polling locations on election day, despite long-standing guidance and practice to the contrary.
MEC v. WEC
This case stems from a WEC decision, issued on April 1, 2024, which misinterprets Wisconsin law to restrict MEC’s ability to accept absentee ballots and register voters during the full period that in-person absentee voting (IPAV) sites are designated. Our clients Deborah Koconis, Lois Smith, and the League of Women Voters of Milwaukee County in supporting MEC’s challenge to the WEC decision. We argue that the ruling creates unnecessary barriers to voting, particularly for voters like Koconis and Smith, who rely on absentee voting. The League emphasizes the importance of absentee voting as an accessible option that increases voter participation.
VOTE EARLY
Vote Early In-Person. Your in-person absentee voting locations are based on what your municipality offers.
To find In-Person Absentee Voting in your municipality, search by address on MyVote Wisconsin.
How Law Forward has protected your right to vote early:
Brown v. WEC
In 2023, on behalf of Black Leaders Organizing Communities (BLOC), intervened in Brown v. WEC, the latest in a long line of attacks on access to absentee voting. This case involves the City of Racine’s use of mobile voting units.
VOTE ON ELECTION DAY
Vote In-Person on Election Day: November 5, 2024. Vote in-person on election day at the polling location associated with your address. If you aren’t registered to vote and want to vote in-person on election day, registration is available at every polling location.
To find your polling place, search by address on MyVote Wisconsin.
How Law Forward has protected your right to vote on election day:
Werner v. Dankmeyer
On behalf of The Andrew Goodman Foundation and Common Cause Wisconsin, Law Forward filed an amicus brief in La Crosse County Circuit Court in defense of youth voters. The plaintiff in that case is asking the Court to create barriers to college students voting in the places where they live, work, and study. Our brief explains that this would violate both the United States Constitution and the Wisconsin Constitution.
Webster v. Pinnow
We represent voter Erin Webster in this complaint to the Wisconsin Elections Commission, which seeks expedited action to ensure that Wisconsin municipalities comply with state law regulating voting systems, including those systems that permit voters with disabilities to vote privately and independently. This complaint was filed after a complaint to the WEC on a similar matter, where we represent Disability Rights Wisconsin.
DRW v. Thornapple
Despite clear legal requirements, and two warnings from the U.S. Department of Justice, the Town of Thornapple discontinued using any electronic voting equipment, depriving disabled voters of the ability to vote privately and independently. This action violates state law and occurred during the April 2 and August 13, 2024 elections, where no electronic voting systems were provided. We represent Disability Rights Wisconsin in this complaint to ensure no one is excluded from the voting process.