Here & Now

Voters with Disabilities Fight to Cast Ballots in Wisconsin

Frederica Freyberg:

Baseless claims of election fraud is one driving factor behind calls to reform the absentee ballot system. But these changes could create a chilling effect for voters with disabilities. Marisa Wojcik brings this story from Milwaukee.

William Crowley:

I typically vote in every election.

Marisa Wojcik:

William Crowley is a dedicated voter.

William Crowley:

National, federal, presidential and the Congress races down to state and local government races.

Marisa Wojcik:

For him and thousands of other Wisconsinites with disabilities, the option of voting absentee is paramount to fulfilling this constitutional right.

William Crowley:

I’ve done a mix of voting styles. Since COVID, it’s been absentee by mail, just trying to avoid large crowds of people standing in line. And I have pre-existing conditions where the virus would have been more burdensome for me.

Marisa Wojcik:

But confidence in fulfilling that right has been eroded recently, with investigations, court cases, and direct challenges to voters who cast an absentee ballot.

William Crowley:

There’s been questions this year about voting absentee after the Teigen lower court decision came out.

Marisa Wojcik:

In Teigen versus the Wisconsin Elections Commission, a Waukesha County judge ruled in January that someone cannot have anyone else turn in their absentee ballot for them, calling it ballot harvesting. For Crowley, that created a direct barrier.

William Crowley:

I’m a quadriplegic with a spinal cord injury. Due to my spinal cord injury, I have limited upper body movements and strength. If I were to go to a post office mailbox, I’m unable to open it and throw an envelope in on my own, so I’m limited in that way when it comes to mailing my vote.

Marisa Wojcik:

Because of that court ruling, instead of voting absentee in April, he went to the polls, and then faced another barrier.

William Crowley:

To get around, I use a electric wheelchair. I went to the polling place, and actually the elevator in the building that would get me to the actual room that the voting was happening in was out of order. And so I couldn’t get up to that room.

Marisa Wojcik:

Federal election law says any voter who requires assistance to vote by reason of blindness, disability, or inability to read or write may be given assistance by a person of the voter’s choice. Wisconsin state law says that for disabled voters, when assistance is requested, the elector may select any individual to assist in casting his or her vote. But when the Wisconsin Supreme Court took up the Teigen case, they agreed that drop boxes and ballot harvesting are illegal. But they did not address protections for disabled voters getting assistance handing in their ballot. Saying, we do not decide at this time whether the law permits a voter’s agent to place an absentee ballot in the mail on the voter’s behalf. And because of this legal gray area, a challenge has already been filed by four people with disabilities, asking a federal judge to declare that they can get help turning in ballots. Even with federal protection, there’s a lingering fear that his ballot could be challenged by people claiming fraud occurred.

William Crowley:

That is a concern that I have, that somebody would try to challenge either my vote or someone else with a disability that has assistance mailing their ballot just because voting has become such a contentious issue.

Marisa Wojcik:

Crowley wants voters with disabilities to know these rights, and to not get discouraged.

William Crowley:

These are big elections coming up, and everyone who wants to make their choice heard should vote, and that absolutely includes people with disabilities.

Marisa Wojcik:

For “Here & Now,” I’m Marisa Wojcik reporting from Milwaukee.