Who’s Safeguarding Absentee Ballots in Wisconsin? Is Anyone Watching Over Them NOW?
Hundreds of thousands of absentee ballots have been returned already in the important election for the next Wisconsin state Supreme Court Justice. Who is ensuring these ballots are secure and safeguarded?
A chart from a few days ago shows that on March 26 there were 408k absentee ballots returned in this week’s Supreme Court race.
In Wisconsin's spring election this year, 408k absentee ballots have been returned so far. Visit https://t.co/ZJu7hb4gAI to see more of our work tracking election administration data. pic.twitter.com/Lc0pUpQzZU
— MIT Election Lab (@MITelectionlab) March 26, 2025
By the 28th the total returned had reached over a half a million.
In the last election, a recount took place on election day of 30,000 absentee ballots in Wisconsin.
BREAKING: Milwaukee, WI election officials announced that they are recounting 30,000 absentee ballots after discovering that the scanning machine door wasn't properly closed. pic.twitter.com/nmbgWMwtzj
— Libs of TikTok (@libsoftiktok) November 5, 2024
This week we reported on absentee ballots being placed behind a black curtain in Milwaukee in the last election where observers not allowed behind.
Absentee ballots add so much risk to the election process because there is more time and space for them to be tampered with. With absentee ballots, the elongated time frame and massive area where absentee ballots are disbursed are virtually impossible to guarantee adequate safeguarding of ballots.
Absentee ballots add risk because:
- Ballots are distributed by a third party (the USPS)
- Ballots are sent out weeks ahead of the election
- Ballots are received before the election day and must be stored and safeguarded
- Signatures on ballot envelopes are the only form of identification and in some states the signature matching process is virtually ignored
In Wisconsin the big question in this election and past elections is who is safeguarding the ballots? Where are the ballots being held and who is guaranteeing that they have not been tampered with since they were received by election personnel.
Why are observers or cameras not in place to ensure the absentee ballots are not tampered with?
If the good people of Wisconsin wanted to ensure a valid election they would ensure all the ballots received from this point forward are safeguarded and eliminate absentee ballots in future elections. The risks are too high.
Hopefully, it’s not too late.
