Wisconsin will mail absentee ballot applications to 2.7M voters

[RandySF]

The Wisconsin Elections Commission has agreed to mail out 2.7 million absentee ballot applications in the state ahead of the Nov. 3 general election, according to the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel.

Last week the six-person panel was split on whether to mail the forms to nearly all registered voters, even if they hadn’t requested one. The bipartisan commission on Wednesday unanimously passed the plan.

The commission still hasn’t finalized the wording of the letter, which could result in a long drafting process. Democrats on the commission want staff to draft the letter to avoid partisan gridlock.

"We’re going to wind up in a situation where we’re going to be parsing individual words on a letter and [having] 3-3 votes on whether we’re going to say ‘shall’ or ‘can,’ or ‘could’ or ‘would’ or ‘should.’ And it does none of us any good," Democratic Commissioner Ann Jacobs told the Journal-Sentinel.

The newspaper reported that the all-mail election will cost $2.25 million and would use funding from a $7.3 million grant from Congress allocated in the first coronavirus relief bill.


https://thehill.com/homenews/state-watch/499861-wisconsin-will-mail-absentee-ballot-applications-to-27-million-voters

[brewens]

1. How would it not save money over running the polls and everything? Especially if you count

the expense to vote for some people. Some lose income from work, plus gas to get to the polls and any other incidental expense.

[DenverJared]

2. 2.7 million is what percentage of the eligible voters?

[dragonlady]

5. Just a guess

The population 18 years and above is roughly 4.3 million. Noncitizens and felons, plus those of us who are already signed up for absentee ballots for the whole year, could bring the total down to perhaps 3.3 million. They will be sending applications only to registered voters. People who are not registered at their current address will have to reregister at their new address and then apply to their city election clerk for an absentee ballot.

[kentuck]

3. Going to "harvest" a lot of Republican absentee ballots in Wisconsin.

Republican voters in Wisconsin need to understand that they will be held accountable if they participate in illegal voting activities, such as manipulation of ballots by outside referees, and assistance in voting the absentee ballot in order to favor one candidate over another. This should be known to all Wisconsinites about what is about to happen in their election.

[dawg day]

4. Okay, let's hear Trump trash another Midwestern state he needs in November....

He will alienate another 10 electoral votes.

[Sogo]

6. Iowa SOS has been a big proponent of voting by mail,

and most in the state (on both sides) are behind it.

They've even set up a tracking system for ballots:

https://sos.iowa.gov/elections/absenteeballotstatus/absentee/search?fbclid=IwAR2gJhoC9sIBeJIVPiIZzjxkOPY1JIdrRmQhdbDh6x5xY0ij5igxBrCwd4o