Wisconsin moves to send absentee ballot applications to most voters

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The Wisconsin Elections Commission is taking the first step toward sending absentee ballot applications to most registered voters in the crucial general election battleground state amid concerns about in-person voting during the coronavirus pandemic.

The members of the bipartisan commission voted 6-0 on Wednesday to advance the plan to send applications to roughly 2.7 million of the state’s nearly 3.4 million registered voters. The unanimous vote came a week after the panel failed to reach agreement on who should receive the ballot applications.

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The forms would be sent to all voters except those who already have requested an absentee ballot or have moved and haven't confirmed their address -- or roughly 2.7 million voters.

Voters would be able to use the forms to request an absentee ballot for November’s general election. By filling out the form and providing a copy of a photo ID, a voter would receive an absentee ballot for the Nov. 3 election. 

There’s still a potential obstacle -- Democrats and Republicans on the evenly divided commission need to agree by next month on the wording of the applications that will be mailed out to voters.

The Election Commission told Fox News that the money to produce and send the applications will come from the $7.3 million in federal funding for election safety that Wisconsin received as part of the CARES Act.

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Michigan recently took a similar step in announcing it will send absentee ballot applications to its state’s registered voters. That triggered President Trump to take to Twitter to heavily criticize the move by Michigan’s secretary of state.

Wisconsin – along with Michigan and Pennsylvania – are three key battleground states with a high percentage of white working-class voters that the Democrats carried in presidential elections for a quarter-century. But in 2016, Trump narrowly flipped the three so-called ‘Rust Belt’ states from blue to red, helping the GOP nominee to win the White House.

FILE - In this April 7, 2020 file photo, voters observe social distancing guidelines as they wait in line to cast ballots in the presidential primary election in Milwaukee. More than 50 people who voted in person or worked the polls during Wisconsin's election earlier this month have tested positive for COVID-19 so far. But there are no plans to move or otherwise alter a special congressional election coming in less than two weeks. (AP Photo/Morry Gash File)

Last month, Wisconsin became the first state to hold in-person voting during the pandemic.

Two last-minute moves by Democratic Gov. Tony Evers and allied progressive and voting rights groups to postpone in-person voting and extend the deadline to vote by absentee ballot due to health concerns were opposed by the GOP-controlled legislature and squashed by Wisconsin’s conservative-dominated Supreme Court.

And a push to extend absentee balloting was also shot down by a 5-4 U.S. Supreme Court ruling that was supported by the justices nominated by Republican presidents and opposed by those nominated by Democrats.

With the state under a stay-at-home order, thousands of poll workers refused to show up over health concerns, forcing many cities and towns to cut the number of polling stations. Milwaukee was down to just five polling sites from the original 180.

Even though the National Guard stepped in to provide some assistance, long lines instantly formed as the polls opened, with many voters waiting hours to cast a ballot. In many instances, social distancing was extremely difficult to maintain. At least 67 voters or poll workers came down with the coronavirus, according to state health officials.