Wisconsin Election Commission Directive Allows Clerks To ‘Fix’ Ballots [UPDATED]

This article has been updated to include more context about the directive as well as the commission’s defense of its policy.

A new report points out that an executive branch agency called the Wisconsin Election Commission issued a directive in October telling local county election clerks that they can “fix” ballots by filling in missing addresses for witnesses. According to one former Wisconsin Supreme Court Justice, the policy, which has been in place since October 2016, may violate a Wisconsin law requiring ballots to have a witness address to be validated. The commission has defended its policy, however, stating that the law “does not specify who affixes the address.”