Court Opinion

ID: 9695109
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-25 18:06:57.101732+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:20:08.367790
License: Public Domain

*355ANN WALSH BRADLEY, J.
¶ 31. {concurring). I, like the majority, would count this vote. However, I reach this conclusion in a manner very different from that embraced by my colleagues. We part ways because I believe that the majority accurately describes only a part of the picture. As a result, it ignores a standard of review, which requires here that the Board of Canvasser's findings of fact be upheld. Accordingly, I respectfully concur.
¶ 32. We should have learned long ago that by accurately describing only a part of the picture, we run the risk of distorting the whole. So it was for those who contested the claim that the world was round. By accurately describing only that part which was visible and flat, they distorted the whole.
¶ 33. And, so it is with the majority. By accurately describing part of the ballot as containing "a clearly visible slash mark (\) written in pencil" (Majority op., ¶ 16) but failing to describe the rest of the picture, the majority runs the risk of distorting the whole.
¶ 34. The whole, as viewed by the Board of Canvassers, depicts an indentation on the ballot of a forward slash mark (/), crossing the light backward slash mark described by the majority and forming a completed (X). It is this colorless forward slash mark that caused the Board to make its finding of fact that the mark constituted an erasure.
¶ 35. In fairness to the majority, it is unclear whether the indentation on the ballot constituting the colorless (or nearly colorless) forward slash mark occurred because of a malfunctioning mechanical pencil or because of an erasure. What is clear, however, is that the Board is the trier of fact, and that pursuant to Wis. Stat. § 9.01(8), the court may not substitute its own view of the facts for that of the Board of Canvassers. *356DeBroux v. Bd. of Canvassers for the City of Appleton, 206 Wis. 2d 321, 331, 557 N.W.2d 423 (Ct. App. 1996).
¶ 36. Wisconsin Stat. § 9.01(8), which details the scope of appellate review, provides in relevant part that:
[T]he court may not substitute its judgment for that of the board of canvassers or the chairperson or designee as to the weight of the evidence on any disputed finding of fact. The court shall set aside the determination if it finds that the determination depends on any finding of fact that is not supported by substantial evidence.
¶ 37. Here, the Board of Canvassers made a factual finding. With respect to the ballot in question, the recount minutes state the following: "one ballot looks erased — 3 canvassers cannot determine with reasonable certainty what was intended. Ballot set aside. (#0002)...."
¶ 38. In framing the issue in this case, the majority opinion ignores this factual finding. It portrays the case as dealing only with an interpretation of law, the statutory interpretation of Wis. Stat. § 7.50(2)(c). Majority op., ¶ 15. In doing so, it contravenes the explicit language of Wis. Stat. § 9.01(8), which mandates that "[t]he court shall separately treat disputed issues of procedure, interpretations of law and findings of fact."
¶ 39. After reviewing the ballot, I would conclude that the Board's finding is supported by substantial evidence. I have attached to this opinion an exhibit from the petitioner's brief, which is a dark photocopy of the disputed ballot. It reveals an "X" like figure, with the upper right side of the "X" missing. The original mark cannot be seen in the majority's photocopy of the ballot. It can be seen in part, however, in the darker photocopy submitted by the petitioner.
*357¶ 40. The fact that the backward slash portion of the "X" is very light and the forward slash indentation is partially missing provides substantial evidence to support the factual finding of an erasure. Accordingly, I would defer to the Board's factual finding.
¶ 41. Recognizing that the mark is an erasure, the next step is to determine which statute governs. The only statute that specifically addresses erasures in the context of elections is Wis. Stat. § 7.50(2)(cm).1 Admittedly, it is unclear from the language of the statute whether it is even applicable to the present case. Wis. Stat. § 7.50(2)(cm) speaks to ballots involving one or more different candidates for the same office, not one-issue referendums.
¶ 42. If the statute does not apply, the legislature has not spoken on the issue and we must look to the principle of inclusion (the legislative preference for counting ballots) for guidance. Assuming that Wis. Stat. § 7.50(2)(cm) does apply, however, the statute narrowly circumscribes when erasures are not to be counted.
¶ 43. Two conditions must be met before the vote is disqualified: (1) "the elector makes another mark, next to the name of one or more candidates for the same office," and (2) "counting of the mark would result in an excess number of votes cast for the office." Wis. Stat. § 7.50(2)(cm). Here, neither of those conditions precedent to disqualification is met. There are no other marks on the ballot. Further, there is no indication in the record that counting the vote would result in an *358excess number of votes cast. Because the conditions precedent for disqualifying a vote as an erasure are not met, I again return to the principle of inclusion.
¶ 44. Wisconsin's general principle of inclusion supports the conclusion of counting the vote in this case. As the majority correctly recognizes, this principle is supported by our precedent, "Wisconsin courts have consistently noted that they do not want to deprive voters of the chance to have their votes counted." Majority op., ¶¶ 19-25 (citing e.g., State ex. rel. Wood v. Baker, 38 Wis. 71 (1875), Ollmann v. Kowalewski, 238 Wis. 574, 300 N.W 183 (1941), Hackbarth v. Erickson, 147 Wis. 2d 467, 433 N.W.2d 266 (Ct. App. 1988)).
¶ 45. In sum, I believe that the Board's finding of an erasure should have been reviewed as a question of fact and not law. I would defer to that finding because an examination of the ballot reveals that it is supported by substantial evidence. However, because the conditions precedent to the statute governing erasures are not present, and Wisconsin's general principle of inclusion controls, I would count the vote.
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 Wisconsin Stat. § 7.50(2)(cm) provides:
Any apparent erasure of a mark next to the name of a candidate may not be counted as a vote for that candidate if the elector makes another mark next to the name of one or more different candidates for the same office and counting of the mark would result in an excess number of votes cast for the office.