July 26, 2022
Disability Rights Wisconsin is receiving questions from voters with disabilities about their rights to have assistance with mailing or delivery of their absentee ballot. Federal law protects the right of people with disabilities to have assistance mailing their ballot, and also to have a person of their choice deliver their ballot to their clerk or polling place.
We encourage voters to complete and mail their absentee ballot as soon as possible to allow time for mail delivery. If a voter with a disability needs someone else to mail their ballot, they should feel comfortable doing so.
If it is too close to the election to mail your completed ballot and you are not able to deliver your ballot because of disability, you may request a disability-related accommodation to have someone else deliver your completed ballot. Note that the person returning your ballot cannot be your employer, union rep or a candidate on the ballot.
Here is a suggested process:
1. Call your municipal clerk and request a disability related accommodation to have a person of your choice deliver your ballot. A sample accommodation request is available on the DRW website. You can simply read the language on the sample
form to the clerk.
• Find the contact information for your Municipal clerk:
https://myvote.wi.gov/en-us/My-Municipal-Clerk
• Sample Accommodation Request: https://disabilityrightswi.org/wpcontent/uploads/2022/07/DRW-Sample-Accommodation-Request-Letter-forballot-drop-off.docx
2. Ask the clerk for the address where the ballot may be delivered – for example on election day, the ballot may need to be delivered to your polling place.
3. Put your accommodation request in writing. You may use the sample language provided by DRW –include your name and the name of the person delivering your ballot. Give the signed accommodation request to the person delivering your ballot to submit with your ballot. If at all possible, keep a copy of the request for your records – you could take a picture with your phone.
4. You can track the status of your absentee ballot on MyVoteWisconsin at https://myvote.wi.gov/en-us/View-My-Absentee-Request When your ballot has been received by your clerk, the status should change to “received”.
• Voters with questions or concerns may contact the Disability Rights Wisconsin Voter Hotline at 844-347-8683 | info@disabilityvote.org
• DRW has also sent information to all municipal clerks about “Absentee voting protections for people with disabilities after the Supreme Court of Wisconsin Teigen decision”. This information is posted on our website at:
https://disabilityrightswi.org/press-release/communication-to-wisconsin-clerksfrom-disability-rights-wisconsin
