Don Natzke is passionate about voting. The longtime Shorewood resident is also blind and has experienced barriers at the polls.
He tells TMJ4 that's why he has signed on to a new lawsuit requesting online ballot options for people in Wisconsin with disabilities.
"I'm really a persistent voter, I've started in the '70s and have really actively voted ever since," said Natzke.
Natzke lost his vision when he was 12 years old and says certain barriers at the polls can prevent people with disabilities like him from making their voices heard.
"With the Pandemic in 2020, I was significantly impacted from voting," Natzke recalled.
Alongside his visual impairment, Natzke received a hip replacement that year which prevented him from walking to his polling site like he normally would and prompted him to request an absentee ballot.
"I have computer equipment which can readily make something that's on paper and in print readable to me, but then trying to figure out how to properly mark the ballot is something that was absolutely impossible to try to do," said Natzke. "I actually used some external resources by use of a camera and a person in a remote location to try and figure out how to do that, and there was really no accurate way to be able to accomplish that."
He says that experience is just one of the many challenges voters with disabilities face.
He's now one of four plaintiffs suing the Wisconsin Elections Commission for the option to vote through electronic ballots.
"We think this is a universal issue, we think it's an important issue, we think it affects those of us who are now affected by a disability but it's really something that could affect anyone."
The lawsuit alleges that not having an online option for these voters violates their constitutional right to a secret ballot since they are 'routinely forced to disclose their vote to 'third parties' when marking their ballots.'
TMJ4 reached out to the Wisconsin Elections Commission for their thoughts on the issue but they said they can't comment on pending lawsuits.
As of now, Wisconsin allows the overseas military to vote with online ballots, so Natzke and the other plaintiffs are asking for disabled Wisconsinites to be afforded the same option.
"I think those of us with disabilities know our disabilities best, we know what we can accomplish we know what we can do," said Natzke.
However, in a state where voting integrity and absentee ballots are routinely questioned, there's no telling how long this case will take to go through the legal process or what the outcome will be.
The Wisconsin Supreme Court is scheduled to hear arguments next month in a case seeking to overturn a previous ruling banning absentee ballot drop boxes.
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