WEST ALLIS — Voting is about to begin in Wisconsin.
Tens of thousands of absentee ballots are being mailed out to voters this week.
The absentee ballots go to voters who are registered and have requested a ballot by mail.
Elections are so important to UW Milwaukee film student David Kaye - he registered to vote on the day he turned 18.
"It's the peak of civic engagement", said Kaye.
He is one of 4700 West Allis voters who have requested an absentee ballot for the 2024 election.
Rebecca Grill is the city administrator in West Allis. The city was set to mail out those ballots Thursday but wanted more clarity after Robert F Kennedy Jr asked a Wisconsin Court of Appeals to remove his name from the ballot.
Two previous legal decisions said no. Kennedy dropped out of the race in August, but state law did not allow for his name to be removed.
The city felt there would be too many uncertainties if the courts reversed course.
Watch "Peak of civic engagement': Wisconsin Clerks send out absentee ballots as early voting begins
"We would have to either send out a new set of ballots - do new envelopes, do all kinds of things which is completely challenging, said Grill, especially in this large election where there's no room for error."
After TMJ4's interview, the city got more clarity from a new filing from Kennedy's lawyers, and ballots in West Allis will now be mailed out on Friday.
In Milwaukee, the city is sending out 30,000 absentee ballots.
Executive Director Paulina Gutierrez walked us through the process of the checks and balances before the ballots go out and when they are returned.
"Even when they start coming back to us, we make sure is this envelope and ballot eligible meaning has the voter signed it - is there a witness signature,” said Paulina Gutierrez, Milwaukee Election Commission Executive Director. They are stored securely in our ballot room until Election Day when they are counted."
Kaye knows what it means to be a voter in battleground Wisconsin.
"I absolutely do," said Kaye when asked if he believes his voter matters. "Wisconsin is the swingy or swing states. We are a bright purple."
Late Thursday, the Wisconsin Elections Commission WEC - which oversees the state's elections asked the State Supreme Court to jump into this issue and take up Kennedy's legal challenge.
For now, WEC is advising clerks across the state to send ballots out this week as planned.
https://elections.wi.gov/sites/default/files/documents/Clerk%20Communication_Litigation%20Updates_Sept%2019.pdf
Absentee ballots are going out in Waukesha County. Brookfield says it is sending out 4300 absentee ballots.
"Our 37 municipalities received their ballots yesterday (Wednesday), said Meg Wartman, Waukesha County Clerk. As far as I am aware, all municipalities are proceeding with mailing them out today as dictated by statute.”
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