Skip to content

Thursday, Nov. 3, 2022

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


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. 

See a full discussion of this at Wisconsin Watch

This fact brief is responsive to conversations such as this one.

About fact briefs

Fact briefs are bite-sized, well-sourced explanations that offer clear "yes" or "no" answers to questions, confusions, and unsupported claims circulating online. They rely on publicly available data and documents, often from the original source. Fact briefs are written and published by Gigafact contributor publications.

See all fact briefs

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.

Learn More

Be a Friend of facts

Help us fund more great fact briefs like this one.