In Wisconsin, it appears that the forces that don’t want anyone to vote unless they’re voting for Republicans have figured out a way to keep disabled people from voting.
You can pretty much blame the Wisconsin Institute for Law and Liberty (WILL) for this one. You can probably tell by its smug name what that outfit is all about. Its website says it believes in a “thoughtful, vibrant, and principled conservative movement,” which sounds like an oxymoron to me. And so WILL has a team of lawyers who help citizens who share their conservative dream to litigate.
“A high percentage of voters with disabilities rely on absentee voting because of the barriers they have to voting in person.”
Last year, WILL’s lawyers helped two Wisconsinites pursue a lawsuit challenging the legality of voters delivering their absentee ballots into drop boxes.
A state judge issued a ruling prohibiting the use of most dropboxes and adding that state law requires absentee ballots to be mailed or delivered in-person by the voter casting the ballot.
The problem with that is it’s not easy for disabled people to deliver their own ballots. Probably the reason a lot of disabled people vote absentee is because they have difficulty getting around. And when they live in rural areas where there’s no public transit or anything like it, getting around can be even more of a hassle.
The idea that people with disabilities will be prevented from voting as a result of the court decision is more than just theoretical. A disabled man from Bloomfield, Wisconsin told Lake Geneva Regional News that his wife took his ballot for the April 5 election to the village clerk but it wasn’t accepted because it wasn’t delivered by the voter who cast it.
“She explained to them that she did not have time to mail them in,” Nusberger told the paper. “They took hers, but they wouldn’t take mine, because I wasn’t there.”
Barbara Beckert is director for external advocacy for Disability Rights Wisconsin, a private nonprofit organization that protects the rights of people with disabilities statewide. She tells me her group has been contacted by several disabled voters in Wisconsin who usually vote absentee but either couldn’t or didn’t vote in the last election because of the uncertainty caused by the ruling.
“A high percentage of voters with disabilities rely on absentee voting because of the barriers they have to voting in person,” Beckert says. “Many disabled and elderly absentee voters must rely on a friend, family member, or care provider to physically place their ballot in the mailbox”
“We are concerned,” she adds, “that the prohibition on absentee ballot return assistance has made it difficult, if not impossible, for many disabled and elderly Wisconsin voters to return their ballots in the manner they have used for years.”
The Wisconsin Supreme Court heard arguments in an appeal of the case brought by Disability Rights Wisconsin in April. The ruling is expected in June or July. The Wisconsin primary election is August 9.
WILL’s adamant stance on this issue is a blatant “Bronx Cheer” to federal laws like the Americans With Disabilities Act, which give disabled people the right to accommodations when voting. But WILL seems to think that they shouldn’t be distracted by little technicalities like that when they’re boldly standing up for law and liberty.