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As I See It

Better double check your absentee ballot

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Voters in Wisconsin will need to be a bit more deliberate if casting absentee ballots in the next election. In yet another case in the courts defining the rules for Wisconsin elections, a judge has ruled that municipal clerks can no longer fill in missing information on the envelopes containing absentee ballots. For the past six years, clerks across the state have been issued guidance by the Wisconsin Elections Commission informing them how to fix any errors, a process known as “curing” the ballot. The most common errors by absentee voters are forgetting to fill in one of three areas on the envelope; the signature of the voter or the signature and address of the witness. Clerks will no longer be allowed to fill in that missing information, meaning a higher percentage of absentee ballots are at risk of not counting. Keep in mind, clerks are not filling in missing information on the ballot itself, but the absentee ballots are at risk of not counting if the voter does not fix the problem with the envelope containing the ballot. That is why it is important for absentee voters to mail their ballots earlier, so that if there is an error, they have time to correct them. And absentee voters are encouraged to use the website www.myvote.wi.gov to track their ballot after it is put in the mail to ensure it has arrived in time, and all the necessary information is there. So if you plan to vote absentee, you may need to take an extra minute to review it if you want to make sure it counts.

Scott Robert Shaw serves as WIZM Program Director and News Director, and delivers the morning news on WKTY, Z-93 and 95.7 The Rock. Scott has been at Mid-West Family La Crosse since 1989, and authors Wisconsin's only daily radio editorial, "As I See It" heard on WIZM each weekday morning and afternoon.

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