MADISON, Wis. (AP) -- A Wisconsin appeals court ruled Wednesday that disabled people are not allowed to receive absentee ballots by email, overturning a lower court's ruling less than three weeks before the April 1 election.
The initial ruling by a Dane County Circuit Court judge allowing for the ballots to be emailed, made in June, was appealed by the Republican-controlled Legislature. The appeals court in August put the ruling on hold and no ballots were emailed ahead of the November presidential election.
The 2nd District Court of Appeals ruling on Wednesday means that disabled voters will not be able to receive absentee ballots by email for the April 1 election, either. Voters are choosing a new Wisconsin Supreme Court justice who will determine majority control of the court, and electing the state's top education official. Early voting begins Tuesday.
Disability Rights Wisconsin, the League of Women Voters and four disabled voters brought the lawsuit a year ago. They argued that not having the email absentee voting option violated their right to independence and privacy while voting.
Dane County Circuit Judge Everett Mitchell ruled in June that disabled people should be allowed to have absentee ballots emailed to them, a privilege currently available only to military and overseas voters.
But the appeals court overturned that ruling, saying Wednesday that the lower court was wrong to issue a temporary injunction that would have changed and "significantly disrupted the status quo."
The status quo in Wisconsin allows for absentee ballots to be emailed only to military and overseas voters, "no one else," appeals court judges Mark Gundrum, Shelley Grogan and Maria Lazar wrote.
The appeals court's ruling can be appealed to the state Supreme Court. The Supreme Court in December denied a request from those who filed the lawsuit to take the case before the appeals court had a chance to rule.
Neither those who brought the lawsuit, or the Wisconsin Elections Commission, had any estimates of how many disabled voters would request absentee ballots by email.
More than 1 million Wisconsin residents over age 18 have some kind of a disability, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Nearly 100,000 Wisconsin adults suffer from vision difficulties, according to statistics compiled by state health officials.
The judge's ruling last year, before it was put on hold and now overturned, would have allowed for emailed ballots to be sent only for voters who self-certify that they can't read or mark a paper ballot without help.
The voters could have cast their ballots electronically at home using devices that help them read and write independently. The voters would then have been required to print and mail the ballots back to the clerks or return them in person.
Other absentee voters can request ballots electronically, but they are then sent in the mail and not electronically. Voters then physically mark the paper ballots before returning them in person or via the mail.
The Wisconsin Department of Justice, which represented the state elections commission, argued that the process was open to security risks and could cause confusion. The Legislature also intervened.
Republican Senate Majority Leader Devin LeMahieu hailed the ruling, calling it a "victory for the rule of law and election security in Wisconsin."
"Allowing courts to decide who can vote from home, using the internet, would weaken election integrity and hurt voters' faith in our elections," LeMahieu said in a statement.
Attorneys for those who brought the lawsuit and the state elections commission did not immediately return email messages seeking comment.
