The Wisconsin Elections Commission on Thursday took the unusual step of reversing two local canvass calls from the April 7 spring election, voting 5-1 to overrule officials in both Mequon and Madison. The commission told Mequon to count five absentee ballots that had been tossed, and told Dane County and Madison canvassers to pull back 23 absentee ballots that had been counted after polls closed. The moves hit two hot-button issues at once - ballot timing and witness-address rules - and are almost certain to fuel more legal and political fights, even though no statewide results were changed.
What the commission ordered
Meeting in a special session, commissioners voted to instruct the Madison Board of Canvassers and the Dane County canvassing board to remove 23 absentee ballots that showed up at polling places after the 8 p.m. deadline but were still added to the tally. At the same time, they directed Ozaukee County and Mequon officials to add five absentee ballots that the Mequon clerk had rejected. In a 5-1 decision, the commission concluded that Madison canvassers had “abused their discretion” by counting late-arriving ballots, while Mequon officials had gone too far in tightening the rules on witness information. The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel detailed the commission’s actions and the divided vote.
Mequon rejection tied to witness-address details
In Mequon, City Clerk Caroline Fochs refused to count five absentee ballots because the witness-address sections on the envelopes did not include a ZIP code or state. Wisconsin Elections Commission staff said those particular details are not required, yet the ballots were left out of the city’s canvass anyway. Commissioners later decided the clerk had misread the guidance and ordered Ozaukee County and the city of Mequon to fold those ballots into the official results. Wisconsin Watch (Votebeat) reported on the standoff and the legal back-and-forth during the county canvass.
Legal context: witness addresses and late ballots
State law requires a witness to list an address on an absentee envelope certificate, but courts have steadily narrowed how that requirement works in practice and what clerks are allowed to fix. The League of Women Voters’ summary of recent lawsuits points to Wis. Stat. §6.87(6d), which says a ballot “may not be counted” if the witness address is missing. Judges, however, have held that a street number, street name and municipality can be enough even if there is no ZIP code. The League of Women Voters lays out the rulings that have left clerks trying to read absentee envelopes with very little room to maneuver.
Local reaction and next steps
Madison’s city clerk’s office said it had been upfront about the late ballots from the start and warned that pulling them back now could mean some otherwise valid votes never get counted. The office also urged lawmakers to finally clean up the statutes that leave clerks caught between legal risk and voter access. For now, the city and county canvassing boards are required to carry out the commission’s directives, and legal challenges remain very much on the table as advocacy groups and attorneys consider their options. WTMJ also covered the commission’s decision and its fallout.
What this means for voters
Election officials and voting-rights advocates say the episode is a reminder of how small details - a courier who shows up a few minutes late, or a witness who forgets a ZIP code - can decide whether a ballot ever gets counted. Law firms and voting-rights groups have flagged the Mequon case as a key example in the broader fight over whether clerks can toss out ballots for missing ZIP codes or other nonessential fields. For now, the commission’s orders are being sent to local canvassers to enforce, and more court filings are entirely possible. Wisconsin Watch has additional coverage of how local officials and lawyers are responding.
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