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Can Wisconsin absentee voters cancel their ballots and vote again in the 2022 midterms?

By Hope Karnopp
NO

Wisconsin voters who change their minds about their votes — or whose chosen candidates drop out before an election — can no longer void their absentee ballots and vote again, a process known as "spoiling." 

A Wisconsin appeals court decided Oct. 27 not to hear an appeal of a lower court's ruling, which required the Wisconsin Elections Commission to rescind its guidance on spoiling that was used in 2016 and 2020 elections.

The WEC and other groups, including the Democratic National Committee, had appealed the ruling. But the judges in both courts sided with a conservative group formed by Republicans, including former U.S. Attorney General William Barr.

Very few Wisconsin voters — between .01% and 1%—spoiled their absentee ballots in recent elections, according to The Associated Press. 

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Wisconsin Watch, the news arm of the nonpartisan, nonprofit Wisconsin Center for Investigative Journalism, increases the quality and quantity of investigative reporting in Wisconsin, while training current and future investigative journalists. Its work fosters an informed citizenry and strengthens democracy.
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