A far-left, Madison-based judge has struck another blow against election integrity in battleground Wisconsin, a swing state expected to play a pivotal role in deciding November’s presidential election.
Dane County Circuit Court Judge Ryan Nilsestuen, who previously served as Democrat Gov. Tony Evers’ top attorney, sided with the leftist League of Women Voters of Wisconsin in a ruling that would allow local elections officials to correct — or “cure” — absentee ballots with missing or incorrect information.
The ruling, issued Tuesday, collides with the conservative Waukesha County Circuit Court opinion in 2022 that found Wisconsin Elections Commission (WEC) guidance allowing “curing” of absentee ballot envelopes defied state election law. Judge Michael J. Aprahamian at the time prohibited WEC “from providing any advice or guidance that municipal clerks or other local election officials have the duty or ability to modify or add information to absentee ballot certifications.”
Nilsestuen’s liberal ruling finds otherwise, agreeing with the League of Women Voters and its well-heeled left-wing law firms that rejecting absentee ballots for “trivial errors” runs afoul of the 1964 Civil Rights Act.
“[T]he Witness Address Requirement is not material to whether a voter is qualified. … As such, rejecting ballots for trivial mistakes in the Witness Address requirement directly violates the federal Civil Rights Act of 1964,” Nilsestuen wrote.
Witnesses to absentee votes must provide their signatures and addresses on the ballot envelopes under state election law. Statute does not grant authority to Wisconsin elections officials to modify absentee ballot certificates. Aprahamian ruled that the Wisconsin Elections Commission doesn’t
