Wisconsin
Federal Judge Upholds Wisconsin’s Absentee Ballot Witness Requirement
WASHINGTON, D.C. — A federal judge this afternoon upheld a Wisconsin law that requires absentee voters to complete their ballots in the presence of an adult witness, who must complete a written certificate containing a signature and address.
In a federal lawsuit filed last fall, four individual Wisconsin voters alleged that the state’s witness requirement violates Section 201 of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 (VRA). This lesser known section of the famous federal voting legislation prohibits denying the right to vote on the basis of a citizen’s failure to comply with a “test or device.”
Under the law, tests or devices include the “requirement that a person as a prerequisite for voting…prove his qualifications by the voucher of registered voters or members of any other class.” Section 201’s ban on “tests or devices” was codified in the original 1965 VRA to outlaw a discriminatory post-Civil War voting practice in which prospective voters would need a “supporting witness” to affirm their qualifications.
In addition to their VRA claim, the voters argued that the witness requirement contravened the Materiality Provision of the Civil Rights Act, which protects against disenfranchisement on the basis of trivial errors that are immaterial to a voter’s eligibility. The lawsuit pointed to the fact that during the 2022 midterm elections alone, over 2,200 absentee ballots were rejected due to witness certificate issues, such as a missing witness zip code.
In today’s ruling, Obama-appointed Judge James D. Peterson rejected both of the plaintiffs’ arguments. As for the voters’ VRA claim, Peterson wrote: “The bottom line is that the only reasonable interpretation of [Wisconsin law] requires a witness to certify that the voter prepared the ballot correctly; it does not require the witness to certify the voter’s qualifications.”
In terms of the voters’ Materiality Provision arguments, Peterson concluded that the “Provision does not apply to the witness requirement because it does not relate to “any application, registration, or other act requisite to voting.” The court relied heavily on a recent decision from the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in which a three-judge panel held that the rejection of mail-in ballots with an incorrect or missing date did not violate the Materiality Provision.
According to both Peterson and the 3rd Circuit’s reasoning, the Materiality Provision only applies to determinations regarding whether a person is qualified to vote. “The witness requirement is not a process for determining voter qualifications, so the Materiality Provision simply does not apply to it,” the opinion reads.
As a result of today’s ruling, Wisconsin’s absentee voters must continue to fill out their ballots in the presence of a witness, who is required to complete a signed certificate.
Meanwhile, litigation is ongoing in two state-level lawsuits concerning what components of a witness address are sufficient to have an absentee ballot counted.
In a set of January rulings, a Wisconsin judge held that any witness address information on the ballot certificate that is enough to identify a location where a witness can be reached is adequate. The judge also ruled that the rejection of absentee ballots due to certain witness address errors violates the Civil Right Act’s Materiality Provision. Wisconsin’s Republican-controlled Legislature appealed the rulings, which are currently being litigated in the Wisconsin Court of Appeals.
According to Democracy Docket’s database, there are five ongoing lawsuits surrounding absentee voting in Wisconsin. Earlier this year, voting rights groups filed a legal challenge to Minnesota’s witness requirement, which is currently proceeding in a Minnesota trial court.
Read the opinion here.
Learn more about the case here.
Wisconsin
Fleeing Wisconsin driver gets airborne and jumps car over another car during high-speed chase
Footage from a high-speed chase in Wisconsin earlier this month shows the fleeing driver going airborne and jumping his car over another. We’re talking full ‘Dukes of Hazzard’ style.
It’s one of the most insane dashcam videos you’ll ever see. The Fond du Lac County Sheriff’s Office released the now-viral footage of the arrest, which took place on Saturday morning, May 9.
A fleeing driver goes airborne and flies his car over another one during a high-speed police chase in Wisconsin. (Getty)
FOX 6 reports that the Wisconsin State Patrol stopped a car, then called for backup because of an active felony warrant. As a Fond du Lac County sheriff’s deputy and another trooper arrived, the driver took off.
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A high-speed pursuit began and eventually came to an end when the driver lost control, went into a ditch, then up the embankment. This is where the car flies over another car.
The fleeing driver’s car not only flew over the other car, it went all the way over the road and ended up in a field on the other side.
Remarkably, Dewayne Stokes, 44, identified by police as the driver, wasn’t ready to give up. He got out of the vehicle and had to be Tased before being taken into custody.
The pursuit had come to an end after four and a half miles, a tiny bit of which was covered through the air. Stokes was then taken to the hospital with minor injuries.
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He was charged with seven counts, including first-degree reckless endangering safety and two counts of eluding an officer. His cash bond was set at $25,000, and he’s due back in court on June 24, according to court documents.
Stokes was out on bond at the time of his car flight for operating a vehicle without the owner’s consent, FOX 6 added. He had a warrant issued for his arrest after he failed to appear in court. He didn’t know it at the time, how could he have, but that decision was going to put him on a path to fly a car over another car.
Everything happens for a reason.
ASHWAUBENON (WLUK) — Luke Combs may be the leading man, but he can’t put on a show alone.
Mat Maxwell plays bass and Jake Sommers plays drums for Combs on tour.
Mat Maxwell plays bass and Jake Sommers plays drums for Combs on tour. They spent Saturday morning hosting a clinic at Heid Music in Ashwaubenon. (WLUK)
They spent Saturday morning hosting a clinic at Heid Music in Ashwaubenon.
The clinic focused on giving insight to aspiring musicians about how to have a successful music career and improve their playing.
Mat Maxwell plays bass and Jake Sommers plays drums for Combs on tour. They spent Saturday morning hosting a clinic at Heid Music in Ashwaubenon, May 16th, 2026. (WLUK/Austin Roth)
Sommers says at the end of the day musicians need to be their own best advocates.
“Hopefully with a little timing and a little luck, y’know you meet that right person,” he said. “And either y’know you want to do the band thing, cool. Or like what we do, we’re side men and obviously our careers depend on said artist and it’s just a belief thing.”
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Combs’ backing band is known as The Wild Cards. The band played an early concert at Green Bay Distillery Thursday.
What to know about NCAA-tourney bound Wisconsin Badgers softball
The Wisconsin Badgers are headed to the NCAA softball tournament. These are some names to know, as well as some pertinent history.
Wisconsin softball could not keep up with the reigning national champions.
Texas – the No. 2 overall seed in the tournament – run-ruled the Badgers, 9-0, in six innings on May 16 in the Austin regional of the NCAA Tournament, easily sending UW to the consolation side of the double-elimination bracket.
Texas pitcher Teagan Kavan took a no-hitter into the fifth inning until Alivia Bark’s single. The Badgers’ only other baserunner during Kavan’s five innings in the circle was on a walk in the first inning.
The Badgers did not have a runner in scoring position until the sixth inning, when Emily Bojan hit a double off Texas reliever Cambria Salmon.
The Longhorns, meanwhile, wasted no time in distancing themselves from the Badgers with their bats. They scored three runs in the first inning after back-to-back hits by Kayden Henry and Katie Stewart, a sacrifice fly by Viviana Martinez and a two-run home run by Reese Atwood.
Texas scored another two runs on a Henry double in the second inning, prompting the Badgers to pull UW ace Shelby Jacobson. One day after her complete-game win over Baylor, Jacobson gave up five earned runs against the Longhorns in 1 ⅓ innings pitched.
Texas piled on with two more runs in the third inning in small-ball fashion after loading the bases, and completed the run-rule win with Henry’s two-run homer in the sixth inning – her third hit of the afternoon – off UW reliever Jordan Felci. (The mercy rule in college softball is eight runs after five or more innings.)
All three UW pitchers to face the Longhorns – Jacobson, Berritt Herr and then Felci – each gave up at least two runs against the host and SEC tournament champion.
When, who will Wisconsin softball play next
The Badgers will look to keep their tournament run alive later today in a consolation game against the winner of the Baylor-Wagner game. (The winner of UW’s next game would then need to defeat Texas twice on May 17 to win the Austin regional.)
UW defeated Baylor in the first round following Hannah Conger’s walk-off double in the ninth inning. Wagner is coming off a 9-1 loss against Texas. The first pitch of UW’s second game is expected to be at approximately 5 p.m., depending on the duration of the Baylor-Wagner game.
This story will be updated after Wisconsin’s second game against Baylor or Wagner.
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