The state Elections Commission is sending postcards to 3,962 voters whose absentee ballots for Tuesday’s primary are being sent to an address other than the one on file with their registrations.
The commission voted last week to send the postcards as part of a check on illegal requests for absentee ballots.
Thursday’s announcement provided the first gauge on how many absentee ballot requests were being sent to another address, legitimate or not.
The issue popped up after activists with Honest, Open and Transparent Government requested absentee ballots for Assembly Speaker Robin Vos, R-Rochester, and Racine Mayor Cory Mason through the MyVote website. The action is illegal, and the group has said it was done to point out how easy it is to illegally obtain an absentee ballot and have it sent to another address.
The postcards notify voters of the request and to give them the opportunity to notify officials if they didn’t make the request.
The commission announced the number of postcards Thursday to highlight steps it’s taken over the past week and to push back on the suggestion there’s a flaw in the online system.
That includes a new warning added last week to the MyVote website that warns of the penalties for impersonating another voter.
The site already asked those applying for an absentee ballot to acknowledge their name and address are correct. The warning was updated to add the penalties for falsely procuring registration or election materials.
The state DOJ is investigating the actions of the H.O.T. activists.
See the release here.
