Wisconsin Governor Tony Evers, a Democrat, vetoed six election bills aimed at restricting absentee ballots in the state on Tuesday.
One of those bills would have required those confined to their homes such as the elderly or disabled to show voter identification to obtain an absentee ballot. These voters would have to apply for a ballot each year, rather than have a ballot sent to them automatically.
“In recent years, we (have been) used as a petri dish for Republican plans to undermine democracy. Well, not anymore. Not today. Not anymore today. Not as long as I’m governor of the great state of Wisconsin,” Evers said at a ceremony in the Capitol rotunda.
Just days earlier, a Republican lawmaker attempted to seize ballots and voting machines in Brown and Milwaukee Counties, saying county officials should refuse to comply with any subpoenas with questionable validity.
The bills Evers vetoed would have required voters to fill out two forms instead of one to vote absentee, added restrictions on who can return completed absentee ballots, required elderly and disabled voters to provide IDs to vote absentee in most cases and prohibited clerks from correcting defects on absentee ballot envelopes.
Other bills vetoed would have created a backup system for voting in nursing homes and required nursing home administrators to notify relatives when special voting deputies will visit the facility. Another would have allowed election observers to sit or stand within 3 feet of poll workers during recounts.
From the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel and The Hill