By Kevin Boneske
Staff Writer
BROWN COUNTY – The City of Green Bay isn’t the only Northeast Wisconsin community being challenged on how it handles elections.
Peter Peckarsky, a U.S. Senate candidate in Wisconsin, is seeking an end to the practice of placing identifying information on centrally-counted absentee ballots,
However, a claim he made to do that was denied this week by village boards in both Suamico and Ashwaubenon.
Peckarsky is challenging the constitutionality of marking those ballots with a poll list number and recording either the voter’s name or number on the poll list, which is required under state law.
His attorney, Robert Pledl, said ballots and poll lists are public records anyone could access to determine how someone voted, which would violate the Wisconsin Constitution’s guarantee of a secret ballot in all elections.
In a letter seeking the end of the practice, Pledl further stated Peckarsky is prepared to file legal action to challenge the state law.
Suamico Clerk Michelle Bartoletti said she was informed by Brown County Clerk Patrick Moynihan Jr. that he would not approve an open records request from anyone looking for this information.
Bartoletti said there really isn’t anything the village can do.
“We do the process as the statutes declare,” she said. “In this past election, that’s how we processed (the absentee ballots in central count).”
Village President Sky Van Rossum said Suamico wouldn’t be in line with state law if it did what Peckarsky requested.
“We can’t do that,” he said. “I don’t feel we can do that.”
Van Rossum said the matter needs to be resolved on that state level, so that voters will be able to keep anonymity for who they voted for.
“This is a serious issue,” he said. “I mean, this is something I’m going to be speaking to our state legislators about and sending some letters on, for sure.”
“When there’s an open records request, technically you could (still) figure out how someone voted,” she said. “(Peckarsky is) asking that we don’t follow state statutes, and of course we’re going to follow state statutes.”
In the event someone votes at the polls and also casts an absentee ballot for the same election, Teske said the voter number would make it possible to pull out a ballot to prevent double voting.
Village Manager Joel Gregozeski said legal counsel from the League of Wisconsin Municipalities determined Packarsky’s claim is not sufficient under state law to be allowed.
“We’ve taken a position that we are in fact following statutes as it relates to the processing of absentee ballots in central count,” he said. “The claim itself hasn’t met the statutory requirements to be a valid claim, and so we are disallowing the claim under that premise, as identified in the resolution.”