diff --git a/src/registrar/forms/application_wizard.py b/src/registrar/forms/application_wizard.py
index e8e198ef8..ae9acaf63 100644
--- a/src/registrar/forms/application_wizard.py
+++ b/src/registrar/forms/application_wizard.py
@@ -52,7 +52,6 @@ class OrganizationTypeForm(RegistrarForm):
 
 class OrganizationFederalForm(RegistrarForm):
     federal_type = forms.ChoiceField(
-        required=False,
         choices=DomainApplication.BranchChoices.choices,
         widget=forms.RadioSelect,
     )
@@ -60,7 +59,6 @@ class OrganizationFederalForm(RegistrarForm):
 
 class OrganizationElectionForm(RegistrarForm):
     is_election_board = forms.BooleanField(
-        required=False,
         widget=forms.RadioSelect(
             choices=[
                 (True, "Yes"),
@@ -120,9 +118,10 @@ class CurrentSitesForm(RegistrarForm):
         if not self.is_valid():
             return
         obj.save()
-        normalized = Domain.normalize(self.cleaned_data["current_site"])
-        # TODO: ability to update existing records
-        obj.current_websites.create(website=normalized)
+        normalized = Domain.normalize(self.cleaned_data["current_site"], blank=True)
+        if normalized:
+            # TODO: ability to update existing records
+            obj.current_websites.create(website=normalized)
 
     def from_database(self, obj):
         """Initializes this form's fields with values gotten from `obj`."""
@@ -142,20 +141,26 @@ class DotGovDomainForm(RegistrarForm):
         """Adds this form's cleaned data to `obj` and saves `obj`."""
         if not self.is_valid():
             return
-        normalized = Domain.normalize(self.cleaned_data["requested_domain"], "gov")
-        requested_domain = getattr(obj, "requested_domain", None)
-        if requested_domain is not None:
-            requested_domain.name = normalized
-            requested_domain.save()
-        else:
-            requested_domain = Domain.objects.create(name=normalized)
-            obj.requested_domain = requested_domain
-            obj.save()
+        normalized = Domain.normalize(
+            self.cleaned_data["requested_domain"], "gov", blank=True
+        )
+        if normalized:
+            requested_domain = getattr(obj, "requested_domain", None)
+            if requested_domain is not None:
+                requested_domain.name = normalized
+                requested_domain.save()
+            else:
+                requested_domain = Domain.objects.create(name=normalized)
+                obj.requested_domain = requested_domain
+                obj.save()
 
         obj.save()
-        normalized = Domain.normalize(self.cleaned_data["alternative_domain"], "gov")
-        # TODO: ability to update existing records
-        obj.alternative_domains.create(website=normalized)
+        normalized = Domain.normalize(
+            self.cleaned_data["alternative_domain"], "gov", blank=True
+        )
+        if normalized:
+            # TODO: ability to update existing records
+            obj.alternative_domains.create(website=normalized)
 
     def from_database(self, obj):
         """Initializes this form's fields with values gotten from `obj`."""
@@ -252,7 +257,9 @@ class SecurityEmailForm(RegistrarForm):
 
 class AnythingElseForm(RegistrarForm):
     anything_else = forms.CharField(
-        required=False, label="Anything else we should know", widget=forms.Textarea()
+        required=False,
+        label="Anything else we should know",
+        widget=forms.Textarea(),
     )
 
 
diff --git a/src/registrar/models/domain.py b/src/registrar/models/domain.py
index e324e60fd..29126c98f 100644
--- a/src/registrar/models/domain.py
+++ b/src/registrar/models/domain.py
@@ -93,10 +93,17 @@ class Domain(TimeStampedModel):
     DOMAIN_REGEX = re.compile(r"^(?!-)[A-Za-z0-9-]{1,63}(?<!-)\.[A-Za-z]{2,6}")
 
     @classmethod
-    def normalize(cls, domain: str, tld=None) -> str:  # noqa: C901
-        """Return `domain` in form `<second level>.<tld>`, if possible.
+    def normalize(cls, domain: str, tld=None, blank=False) -> str:  # noqa: C901
+        """Return `domain` in form `<second level>.<tld>`.
 
-        This does not guarantee the returned string is a valid domain name."""
+        Raises ValueError if string cannot be normalized.
+
+        This does not guarantee the returned string is a valid domain name.
+
+        Set `blank` to True to allow empty strings.
+        """
+        if blank and len(domain.strip()) == 0:
+            return ""
         cleaned = domain.lower()
         # starts with https or http
         if cleaned.startswith("https://"):
diff --git a/src/registrar/templates/home.html b/src/registrar/templates/home.html
index 2010d87a2..ac5414c0b 100644
--- a/src/registrar/templates/home.html
+++ b/src/registrar/templates/home.html
@@ -32,7 +32,11 @@
   <tbody>
     {% for application in domain_applications %}
       <tr>
-        <th>{{ application.requested_domain.name }}</th>
+        <th>
+          <a href="{% url 'edit-application' application.pk %}">
+            {{ application.requested_domain.name|default:"New domain request" }}
+          </a>
+        </th>
         <td>{{ application.status }}</td>
       </tr>
     {% endfor %}
diff --git a/src/registrar/tests/test_views.py b/src/registrar/tests/test_views.py
index 4b3234d73..28fbd64dd 100644
--- a/src/registrar/tests/test_views.py
+++ b/src/registrar/tests/test_views.py
@@ -602,6 +602,13 @@ class DomainApplicationTests(TestWithUser, WebTest):
         url = reverse("edit-application", kwargs={"id": application.pk})
         response = self.client.get(url)
 
+        # TODO: this is a sketch of each page in the wizard which needs to be tested
+        # Django does not have tools sufficient for real end to end integration testing
+        # (for example, USWDS moves radio buttons off screen and replaces them with
+        # CSS styled "fakes" -- Django cannot determine if those are visually correct)
+        # -- the best that can/should be done here is to ensure the correct values
+        # are being passed to the templating engine
+
         url = reverse("application_step", kwargs={"step": "organization_type"})
         response = self.client.get(url, follow=True)
         self.assertContains(response, "<input>")