Wisconsin judge won’t order sequestering of absentee ballots

By SCOTT BAUER
Associated Press

MADISON, Wis. (AP) — A Wisconsin judge has refused to order that military absentee ballots be pulled aside and sequestered until it can be verified that they were cast legally, saying that would be a “drastic remedy” that could disenfranchise voters. The Republican chair of the Wisconsin Assembly’s elections committee along with a veterans group and other voters sued on Friday, seeking a court order to sequester the ballots. Waukesha County Circuit Judge Michael Maxwell ruled Monday from the bench following a two-hour hearing. He says the case raised questions about whether the bipartisan Wisconsin Elections Commission was adequately informing the state’s 1,800-plus election clerks about their duty to maintain a list of eligible military voters.