Gov. Tony Evers on Tuesday vetoed a set of Republican bills that would have tightened restrictions on absentee voting in Wisconsin, arguing they were efforts to “stack the deck so (Republicans) get the results they want next time.”

“They’re trying to make it harder for every eligible person to cast their ballot,” Evers said during a news conference at the state Capitol.

The bills, approved on party lines in the state Legislature, would limit who can return an absentee ballot on behalf of a voter, bar election officials from filling in missing information on absentee ballot submissions, and require elderly and disabled voters to show a photo ID in order to vote absentee.

Advocates for the proposals have argued they’re needed to implement more uniformity and transparency in election administration throughout the state, but opponents said the bills would make it harder to vote, especially for people who already have difficulties with the process.

There is no evidence of widespread voter fraud in the 2020 election. The Associated Press reported based on an open records request in May that local election officials only identified 27 cases of potential voter fraud that they forwarded to prosecutors, out of 3.3 million Wisconsin ballots cast in the November election.

The bills Evers vetoed would have: 

• Allowed an absentee ballot to be returned only by the voter, an immediate family member or a legal guardian.
• Prohibited election officials from filling in missing address information on an absentee ballot envelope.
• Required voters to provide a copy of their ID every time they vote absentee (not just the first time, as under current law).
• Barred election officials from sending absentee ballot applications unless a voter requests one.
• Required voters who request an absentee ballot to fill out two forms (one to apply for the ballot and another to certify that they are the person who filled it out). Under current law, one form covers both of these steps.
• Required indefinitely confined voters to reapply each year to receive absentee ballots, rather than receive them automatically.
• Required voters who are indefinitely confined due to age or disability to show a photo ID in order to vote absentee.
• Limited ballot collection events to occur only within two weeks before an election. Absentee ballots could only be collected at one site, located near and staffed by employees of the local clerk’s office. This provision would effectively ban events like last year’s “Democracy in the Park,” where Madison poll workers collected absentee ballots and registered voters in more than 200 parks.
• Allowed recount observers to be within 3 feet of poll workers.
• Required local clerks’ offices that livestream vote canvassing to keep recordings of the proceedings for at least 22 months after the election.
• Required administrators of residential care facilities and retirement homes to notify residents’ relatives of when special voting deputies will be on site for residents who plan to vote absentee, and make it a felony for a facility employee to influence a resident’s vote.

“Democracy isn’t something that just happens for us; we choose to make it every day. That’s why we will continue working to protect the right of every eligible voter to cast their ballot and to make sure it is easy and accessible for them to do that,” Evers said.

Disability rights advocates praised Evers’ actions.

“For our democracy to work, it must include all of us,” said Jenny Neugart of the Wisconsin Disability Vote Coalition.

The bills would “significantly restrict the abilities of voters with disabilities, older adults and many other Wisconsin voters from participating in the voting process,” she said.

“A common theme of these bills is that it will make absentee voting more difficult,” Neugart said. “Absentee voting is a lifeline for people with disabilities, with transportation barriers and unpredictable medical conditions, and it will become more important as Wisconsin continues to age, leading to an even larger group of people who will be disenfranchised.”

Assembly Speaker Robin Vos, R-Rochester, said he is “very disappointed Gov. Evers refuses to do the right thing.”

“The governor is making another momentous mistake with his veto pen. While he claims these bills are ‘anti-democracy,’ his actions speak louder than words. He is satisfied with the status quo and refusing to improve future elections,” Vos said in a statement. “These bills closed loopholes, standardized procedures, established uniformity, guaranteed only the voter can correct their own ballot and protected votes of seniors in long-term care.”

The bills were opposed by groups including AARP, Disability Rights Wisconsin, the cities of Madison and Milwaukee, the Greater Wisconsin Agency on Aging Resources and the Wisconsin Coalition of Independent Living Centers. Wisconsin Family Action and the Opportunity Solutions Project were registered in support of the bills.

Evers’ veto actions come as Republicans continue to expand their efforts to review the 2020 presidential election. President Joe Biden defeated former President Donald Trump in Wisconsin by about 20,000 votes, a result confirmed by several recounts and court decisions.

Vos announced late last month that he will grant more authority and autonomy to former state Supreme Court Justice Michael Gableman as he leads a taxpayer-funded probe. The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported this week that Gableman told a crowd of Trump supporters last year that “unelected bureaucrats” had been allowed to “steal our vote.” He has since downplayed that assertion.

Vos said his goal is to conclude that investigation in the fall, and release the results around the same time as the nonpartisan Legislative Audit Bureau concludes its own forensic audit.

But some Republicans aren’t satisfied with those efforts. 

Assembly elections committee co-chair Rep. Janel Brandtjen, R-Menomonee Falls, has led a group of lawmakers in calling for an additional Arizona-style investigation into Wisconsin’s election results. 

On Friday, Brandtjen issued subpoenas demanding that the Milwaukee and Brown county clerks turn over ballots, election equipment and other records. It’s not clear whether she has the authority to issue those subpoenas, however, without signatures from Vos and Assembly Chief Clerk Ted Blazel.

Asked on Tuesday whether the clerks in those counties should comply with the subpoenas, Evers said, “Hell no.”