What to do if you Voted for a Candidate Who Drops Out Before Election Day

Wondering what to do if you voted for a candidate who has since withdrawn from the election race? Read ahead to learn how to spoil your ballot and request a new one to be issued to you.

Absentee and early-voting provides many benefits to the voting age population. It increases voter participation, avoids voter discrimination, relives same-day voting congestion at the polls, and allows those with difficult work/travel schedules to still be able to cast their vote.

However, these early voting methods can present a difficulty when candidates drop out of the race late have already collected many votes from constituents around the state.

If you partook in absentee or early voting, and the candidate you voted for is no longer running in the election, you have the opportunity to “spoil” your ballot and vote for a new candidate. You can do this with either a new absentee ballot or by going in person on election day.

You MUST request your ballot to be spoiled by the appropriate deadlines, as listed below.

• Thursday, August 4^: For regular absentee voters who spoil their ballot and request a new ballot by mail or vote on election day at their polling place.
• Friday, August 5: For indefinitely confined absentee voters who spoil their ballot and request a new ballot by mail or to vote on election day at their polling place.
• Saturday, August 6: For all absentee voters who spoil their ballot and request a new ballot in person at their in-person absentee voting location.

If you are looking to spoil your absentee ballot, please contact your local Elections Commission or the Wisconsin Elections Commission. You can also go to an in-person absentee voting site or your clerk’s office by the deadline. The contact information for the WEC is below.

Wisconsin Elections Commission:

• (608) 266-8005
• Toll-Free: 1-866-VOTE-WIS
• elections@wis.gov