Guardianship and Voting

This page includes information on:

1. the basics about guardianship and voting.
2. how to keep the right to vote in a guardianship case.
3. how to get the right to vote back if lost in a guardianship case.
4. additional resources.

The Basics about Guardianship and Voting

• Guardianship and Voting: The Basics of Wisconsin’s Guardianship Law and its Impact on the Right to Vote (accessible PDF).
• Competency, Guardianship, and Voting Brochure
  • Competency, Guardianship, and Voting – English (accessible PDF).
  • Competency, Guardianship and Voting – Spanish (accessible PDF).

How to Keep the Right to Vote in a Guardianship Case

• Guardianship and Voting: How to Keep the Right to Vote (accessible PDF).

How to Get Your Right to Vote Back

In Wisconsin, people under guardianship retain the right to vote unless the court expressly removes that right. These resources explain how to determine if you have retained or lost the right to vote, and, if you have lost the right to vote, how to petition the court to restore your right to vote.

• Full Guide: Guardianship and Voting: How to Get Your Right to Vote Back – A Disability Rights Wisconsin Guide (accessible PDF)
  • Note: The full guide does not have fillable form fields; for fillable forms, please use the Word document versions below. 
• Summary Guide: Guardianship and Voting: How to get Your Right to Vote Back (accessible PDF)
• Print-Friendly Guides 
  • Print-Friendly Full Guide (accessible PDF)
  • Print-Friendly Summary Guide (accessible PDF)
• Forms
  • Forms and instructions on how to fill them out are also included in the full Guardianship and Voting guide.
  • Form 1: Ward’s Petition to Restore Ward’s Right to Register to Vote and to Vote
    • Form 1 with fillable fields (accessible PDF)
    • Form 1 with fillable fields (Word document)
    • Form 1 without fillable fields (Word document)
  • Form 2: Petition on Behalf of Ward to Restore Ward’s Right to Register to Vote and to Vote
    • Form 2 with fillable fields (accessible PDF)
    • Form 2 with fillable fields (Word document)
    • Form 2 without fillable fields (Word document)
  • Form 3: Order to Restore Ward’s Right to Register to Vote and to Vote
    • Form 3 for printing (accessible PDF)
    • Form 3 with fillable fields (Word document)
    • Form 3 without fillable fields (Word document)

Additional Resources

Articles

• “Allegations of Incompetency and the Right to Vote” published in The Guardian, the newsletter of the Wisconsin Guardianship Support Center; starts at page 7.
• “Restoring the Right to Vote for People under Guardianship” published in The Guardian, the newsletter of the Wisconsin Guardianship Support Center; starts at page 4.

Videos

• Guardianship and Voting: Keeping and Restoring the Right to Vote (Youtube)
  • Guardianship and Voting: Keeping and Restoring the Right to Vote Presentation (accessible PDF)
• How I Got My Right to Vote Back: A Message from Jennifer Kratsch (YouTube)
• Parent to Parent: Why I Support My Adult Child with a Disability to Vote (Youtube), Wisconsin Disability Vote Coalition: Parents share why retaining their child’s right to vote is so important to them and their child with a disability.
  • Parent to Parent video with Audio Description (Youtube).

Guardianship and Voting: Preserving and Restoring the Right to Vote Training

• September 14, 2022 Training Presentation (accessible PDF)
• September 14, 2022 Training Recording (YouTube)

For assistance with questions about voting and guardianship, contact the DRW Voter Hotline at 844-347-8683 or email info@disabilityvote.org