Poll watchers in Wisconsin were afforded greater access to in-person absentee voting this midterm election season after a Wisconsin judge sided with Republicans in granting poll watchers such authority.
In a suit where plaintiffs alleged the clerk was improperly allowing them to only view certain aspects of the process, Judge Marc A. Hammer ordered City Clerk Celestine Jeffreys to allow poll watchers full access to the process, including areas where voters complete witness certification and return their ballots in the City Hall building; a recent FOXNews.com report said.
Hammer’s order came just a day after the Republican National Committee (RNC) filed the lawsuit in Brown County, bringing to 75 the overall number of legal actions taken by the RNC related to the 2022 election. As part of the Brown County complaint, plaintiffs alleged that they were prevented by Jeffreys from being in the hallway where voters took their ballots to cast them and the step of placing them in a ballot box.
Soon after the verdict was rendered, Jeffreys said that her office had complied with the order, rearranging the hall to provide a place for poll watchers as a team to observe the entire process. With the entire process protected by law, voting officials contend the previous restrictions were aimed at preventing voters from being inhibited.
“In response to a legal action brought by the RNC regarding rules of observation, the city has provided additional areas of observation,” Jeffreys said in a statement sent to the Associated Press. “The modifications made will continue to preserve and protect the integrity of the in-person absentee voting process while protecting voter security and freedom.”
