| | “The statute is very, very clear,” said retired Wisconsin Supreme Court Justice Michael Gableman, who worked as a poll watcher in Milwaukee on Election Day. “If an absentee ballot does not have a witness address on it, it’s not valid. That ballot is not valid.” The former Wisconsin Supreme Court Justice said the ballots should be invalidated. “In defiance of and direct contradiction to the statute, the Wisconsin Elections Commission gave guidance–that is, cover–to all 72 county clerks and turned the statute on his head,” Gableman said. “They said, ‘Gee, we know the law says an absentee ballot without the witness address is not valid, but county clerk, you have a duty to go ahead and look up on your own the witness’ address if there’s no address on the absentee ballot.”<ref>https://redstate.com/scotthounsell/2020/11/08/ballot-clerks-in-wisconsin-allegedly-added-witness-statements-to-thousands-of-invalid-ballots-n276848</ref> | | “The statute is very, very clear,” said retired Wisconsin Supreme Court Justice Michael Gableman, who worked as a poll watcher in Milwaukee on Election Day. “If an absentee ballot does not have a witness address on it, it’s not valid. That ballot is not valid.” The former Wisconsin Supreme Court Justice said the ballots should be invalidated. “In defiance of and direct contradiction to the statute, the Wisconsin Elections Commission gave guidance–that is, cover–to all 72 county clerks and turned the statute on his head,” Gableman said. “They said, ‘Gee, we know the law says an absentee ballot without the witness address is not valid, but county clerk, you have a duty to go ahead and look up on your own the witness’ address if there’s no address on the absentee ballot.”<ref>https://redstate.com/scotthounsell/2020/11/08/ballot-clerks-in-wisconsin-allegedly-added-witness-statements-to-thousands-of-invalid-ballots-n276848</ref> |
| | Anticipating a legal challenge to this seemingly highly unlawful advice, the WEC instructed clerks to write in these witness addresses in red pen so that they would be easy to find during a recount or audit of the vote. | | Anticipating a legal challenge to this seemingly highly unlawful advice, the WEC instructed clerks to write in these witness addresses in red pen so that they would be easy to find during a recount or audit of the vote. |