Dane County Judge Ryan Nilsestuen ordered a ruling be approved by the Wisconsin State Elections Commission on Jan. 30, allowing partial witness addresses on absentee ballots to be counted in the upcoming elections, according to the Associated Press.

Two cases were introduced by liberals in early January calling for ballots that do not have zip codes or municipalities to be accepted. Nilsestuen ruled on the side of the petitioners, which led to pushback from the Republican legislature, according to the Associated Press.

The ruling would also allow witnesses to indicate they live at the same address as the voter by writing in “ditto” or “same.” City clerks would then be allowed to fill in the remaining information, according to the League of Women Voters.

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This practice was under scrutiny following the 2020 presidential election when former President Donald Trump filed lawsuits, however, the Wisconsin Supreme Court ruled there was not a clear interpretation of what constituted an address, according to the League of Women Voters.

Professor emeritus of political science David Canon explained the reason Trump was so unsuccessful in his lawsuits following the 2020 election is voting rules cannot be changed after the fact. Therefore, policy changes to absentee ballots must be implemented before elections.

“There’s this basic principle that you can’t challenge rules after the fact, you have to challenge them well before the election,” Canon said.

Nilsestuen said Jan. 30 that the elections commission must decide on this ruling by Feb. 9 before the primary local elections Feb. 20, according to the Associated Press.

This ruling, if implemented by the elections commission, would have little impact on voter turnout. But, it could have a big effect on the amount of absentee ballots counted, because votes that otherwise would’ve been discarded will be counted, according to Canon.

“This could potentially be thousands of votes in the November election,” Canon said. “So in a state like Wisconsin, which is such a closely contested state, that could end up being decisive.”

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Staff attorney at the State Democracy Research Initiative Bryna Godar said students make up a large portion of absentee ballots, therefore this ruling could have a significant impact on the number of student votes counted.

Whether or not it is implemented, absentee voters should still fill out as much of the ballot as possible, according to Godar.

“It’s still best to fill out full street number, street name, municipality, zip code, state, all of that information, but with this decision it’s not necessarily going to be fatal to someone’s vote if a witness doesn’t fill out, for example, a zip code,” Godar said.

A hearing for the ruling is scheduled for Friday, and the case is expected to go to the Wisconsin Supreme Court, according to the Associated Press.