Proposed election law changes not about restoring faith and integrity in our elections

Wisconsin lawmakers have unveiled a series of bills designed to make changes to our election laws. Unfortunately, each of these bills are designed to invoke partisanship into our election rules. Under the proposals, those who vote absentee would have just two weeks prior to the election to fill them out and return them. Any absentee ballot which is missing any information would be returned to the voter to fix. Under current rules, local clerks typically fill in the information after calling the voter. Another bill would make it a felony for someone other than the voter or their immediate family to return a completed ballot. That effectively nullifies group voting events like happened at a rally in Madison prior to the last election. Other bills would make it difficult for voters to be considered “indefinitely confined.” Yet another would disallow automatically mailing absentee ballots to those who requested them as happens in the city of La Crosse. You would have to request one for each election, rather than a year’s worth at a time. Most glaringly, lawmakers want to have a say in how elections are run, forcing the independent Wisconsin Elections Commission to seek legislative approval before changing any rules. Supporters say these new laws are needed to restore faith and integrity in our elections, but it is hard to see how letting the politicians get their fingers in election rules does much for faith and integrity.