If you don’t like the weather in Wisconsin, you should wait an hour for a change in season. If you don’t like voting laws in Wisconsin, you should wait until the next Supreme Court election. Laws over who can vote, when we can vote and how we can vote are constantly in flux. The state Supreme Court usually tips the scales. Voter access issues heat up with special intensity as election season gets closer. Here are a few things to watch as the November general election nears:
It’s time to pick your Milwaukee favorites for the year!
Who’s in charge?
Some state Republicans, egged on by former President Donald Trump, have for years been working to oust Meagan Wolfe, administrator of the Wisconsin Elections Commission since 2018. She didn’t do anything wrong, necessarily, but also didn’t go far enough in the minds of Trump and his supporters in aiding their efforts to overthrow the 2020 election results. One of the six members of the WEC, Robert Spindell, also faces loud calls to resign. They come from Democrats and voting-rights groups over Spindell’s role as a so-called “fake elector” in Trump’s scheme to retain power. Neither Wolfe nor Spindell is likely going anywhere – but the calls to oust them won’t stop.
What’s going on in Milwaukee?
The state’s largest city, and perhaps its most politically important, goes into the November election with a brand-new elections chief. Paulina Gutiérrez took over as executive director of the Milwaukee Election Commission from Claire Woodall in May. The shakeup, ordered by Mayor Cavalier Johnson, came as a stunner, given Woodall’s experience in the complex and politically treacherous job. Gutiérrez has been a deputy director of the commission, but never in charge on Election Day. How she handles the role will be watched closely with the eyes of the nation on Milwaukee.
After challenge, ballot drop boxes will return.
Mailbox-like ballot drop boxes give voters a third option beyond mailing in an absentee ballot or leaving it with an official at an election office. But in 2022, the conservative-majority state Supreme Court banned their use. Since then, elections shook up the court’s makeup, and that more liberal-leaning court heard a challenge to that ruling in May. Its ruling last week: the drop boxes are legal, which should make voting in the fall election significantly more accessible. State election officials are expected to announce guidance to local clerks later this week.
Are we headed toward another absentee ballot counting nightmare?
There are roughly 38 municipalities in the state that count all absentee ballots in the same location, often called a “central count,” on Election Day. Most notably, Milwaukee operates this way. Because it’s so much larger than every other city, the counting of ballots takes significantly longer, and Milwaukee results aren’t finalized until the wee hours. This delay led to unfounded claims of “ballot dumps” by former President Donald Trump and supporters. In 2023, a bipartisan group of lawmakers attempted to remedy the situation with a law that would’ve allowed Milwaukee and others to start counting ballots the Monday before Election Day. That’s the standard in many other states, but the GOP-led state Senate in Wisconsin killed the bill. The decision leaves Milwaukee’s central count in the same uncomfortable spotlight in November’s election as it’s occupied on recent election nights.
