Wisc. Voters Call for No Witness Signatures During COVID-19

Wisconsin voters, along with the Alliance for Retired Americans and the League of Women Voters of Wisconsin have asked the Wisconsin Election Commission to waive witness signature requirements for absentee voting. They claim that this requirement makes voting too risky for those who are socially isolating or in quarantine due to COVID-19. 

Along with the two organizations, the voters who have filed this Wisconsin voting class action lawsuit are Sylvia Gear, Malekeh K. Hakami, Patricia Ginter, and Claire Whelan. The four Wisconsin residents are eligible voters who live alone and are remaining at home to protect their health during COVID-19.

Allegedly, the women are at higher risk for infection with COVID-19 than the general population, because they are of advanced age and/or have existing health conditions that make them more vulnerable to the disease.

The four voters say that they cannot safely participate in the voting process in-person because it could expose them to coronavirus, so they want to vote as an absentee. However, even doing that exposes them to the virus, so they claim, because each absentee ballot is required to be signed by a witness who is an adult United States citizen.  Along with the League of Women Voters of Wisconsin and the Alliance for Retired Americans, these voters are asking the Wisconsin Election Commission to waive the witness signature requirement for the duration of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Do you need voting assistance during the coronavirus pandemic? Get legal help by clicking here.

According to the Wisconsin voting witness signature lawsuit, the absentee ballot witness signature requirement currently puts an undue burden on those who must self-isolate for their safety. The voting requirements lawsuit asserts that this requirement effectively forces people to choose between exercising their right to vote or protecting their health.

The voters stress that disenfranchising the absentee voters who are self-quarantining by requiring them to produce a witness signature is both unjustifiable and against the state’s interests. Allegedly, it is not justifiable by a “legitimate, regulatory interest of Wisconsin government officials,” and the state even has an interest in promoting absentee voting over in-person voters, as limiting in-person contact is key to slowing the spread of the coronavirus.

The voters go on to assert that if many voters are barred from voting absentee by mail because they cannot access a witness signature, they might turn to in-person voting, which puts both their health and the health of the general public at risk. On the other side of the coin, the COVID-19 lawsuit asserts that preventing many voters from voting at all would be an “unconstitutional result,” and says that this request aims to prevent that result.

Gear, Hakami, Ginter, and Whelan elaborate on their assertion that preventing Wisconsin residents from voting is unconstitutional, and on their point that it is in the state’s best interest to make absentee voting easier. They note that the First and Fourteenth Amendments to the U.S. Constitution require that the “right to vote must be balanced against a state’s interest in that requirement.”

Allegedly, allowing voters to vote absentee in the comfort of their homes, without requiring that they come in contact with a witness, furthers Wisconsin citizens’ right to vote and works in the state’s best interest. 

The Wisconsin voting lawsuit stresses that the COVID-19 outbreak has now reached the level of a global pandemic, and governments around the world, including the Wisconsin state government, are taking unprecedented steps to control the spread. 

In Wisconsin, these steps included an emergency order from Governor Tony Evers, issued on March 24, 2020, requiring non-essential businesses to close and residents to stay at their homes except for essential business.

The voters also say that the governor has urged those who are particularly vulnerable to coronavirus to take “additional precautions” to protect themselves from the virus. Allegedly, requiring these vulnerable voters to expose themselves to COVID-19 because the absentee voting process requires them to find a witness to sign their ballot is in conflict with the safety recommendations from the government. 

The Wisconsin voting lawsuit notes that voting is already an issue on the minds of Wisconsin residents — an unusually high number of voters requested absentee ballots so that they can avoid going to the polls and exposing themselves to COVID-19.

The voters are represented by Jon Sherman, Michelle Kanter Cohen, and Cecilia Aguilera of Fair Elections Center; and by Douglas M. Poland and David P. Hollander of Rathje Woodward LLC.

The Wisconsin Absentee Voter COVID-19 Class Action Lawsuit is Sylvia Gear et al. v. Dean Knudson et al., Case No. 3:20-cv-00278, in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Wisconsin.

Join a Free Coronavirus Class Action Lawsuit Investigation

If you believe your rights were violated in a way that is directly related to the coronavirus pandemic, you may qualify to join this coronavirus class action lawsuit investigation. 

Join Here

Read More Lawsuit & Settlement News:

DevaCurl Class Action Says Products Cause Hair Loss

IKEA Recalls Kullen Chests Due to Tip-Over Risk

H&M Settles Wage and Hour Class Action for $3.8M

What Are the Long Term Side Effects of Uloric?