Posted on 05/17/2012 7:57:23 AM PDT by afraidfortherepublic
Madison -- Voters won't be able to get absentee ballots until Friday that normally would be available Tuesday, the head of the state election agency said.
The issue arose because of a conflict between state election law and the state Constitution, which lays out a tight time frame between a primary and recall election, said Kevin Kennedy, director of the state Government Accountability Board.
Under state law, absentee ballots should be available Tuesday because the recall election is three weeks away, on June 5. But those ballots can't be sent until Friday, when the accountability board certifies the results of the May 8 primary, Kennedy said.
Normally, there is a longer period between a primary and general election. But the state Constitution requires four weeks between a primary and a recall election. That causes conflicts in the absentee schedule and the election certification schedule, Kennedy said.
As a result, a small number of people who will be out of town on June 5 won't be able to vote because they won't be able to get an absentee ballot this week, Kennedy said.
"We're dealing with a short time frame," Kennedy said. "Some people are going to get caught."
State law used to allow election clerks to email absentee ballots to voters at the discretion of the clerks. The voter would then fill out the ballot and return it through traditional mail. But last year, Republican lawmakers eliminated the ability of clerks to do that except in very limited circumstances.
"It would be wise to go back to allowing municipal clerks to transmit (ballots) electronically. We thought it was short-sighted" for legislators to change that law, Kennedy said.
(Excerpt) Read more at jsonline.com ...
Wisconsin: Absentee ballots to be mailed late ping
FReep Mail me if you want on, or off, this Wisconsin interest ping list.
Hurts the college student vote. :)
Hurts the military vote :(
Just freaking AMAZING how so many smart people in Madison could not figure out these dates conflicts when they were picking out the dates for the Recall election.
Just another attempt to hurt Walker?????
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.