Elections commission deadlocks on witness address guidance

MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Wisconsin election officials have deadlocked on rescinding guidance issued in 2016 that says clerks can fill in missing witness address information on absentee ballot envelopes without contacting the witness or the voter.

The guidance was in effect during the 2020 election and drew criticism from Republican legislators concerned about election security.

The Legislature's Republican-controlled rules committee earlier this year ordered the Wisconsin Elections Commission to codify the guidance as a rule.

The commission complied and the committee voted last month to kill the rule, leaving commissioners to ponder whether to rescind it.

The commission tied 3-3 on whether to drop the guidance.

The tie leaves the guidance in place.

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