Effort to allow more time for processing absentee ballots likely dead in Legislature

A bipartisan proposal to give Wisconsin clerks extra time to process absentee ballots will not pass this session, a key lawmaker told WISN-TV this weekend.

That means the effort, which advocates say will help large cities like Milwaukee get through Election Day more efficiently and diminish accusations of late-night vote dumping, is all but dead in the Legislature.

In order for the legislation to reach the Senate floor for a vote, Sen. Dan Knodl, R-Germantown, who chairs the Senate election committee, would first need to schedule a committee vote. In an interview with WISN-TV that aired this weekend, he said he will not do so.

“(It’s) just not the right time to add a new process a whole new day to process ballots in the in the presidential election cycle,” he said.

The bill passed the GOP-held Assembly in November, and Gov. Tony Evers previously signaled he would sign it if it eventually passed the Senate.

It would have allowed communities to begin processing — but not counting — absentee ballots a day earlier than Election Day.

The proposed change was an attempt to address complaints that followed the 2020 presidential election. That race, held in the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, saw a record number of absentee ballots. In dense Milwaukee, that meant vote tabulators were still at work until the wee hours of the night.

And because Milwaukee is a Democratic stronghold, that meant an early lead held by former President Donald Trump was overturned once the city’s totals were in. President Joe Biden narrowly took Wisconsin as a whole.

Some backers of debunked theories who say the election was stolen pointed to the timing of Milwaukee’s data release as evidence of fraudulent “ballot dumping.”

Senate Majority Leader Devin LeMahieu, R-Oostburg, suggested last week that the bill would likely not reach his chamber for a vote. He told WISN-TV that some members think it’s up to Milwaukee to put resources toward counting its ballots faster.

Knodl echoed that idea in saying he would not advance the legislation.

“We had many issues in 2020 particularly,” Knodl said. “I believe they’re working through those issues. … But I still need to see another cycle run to have the confidence that Milwaukee has got their central count in order.”