US Supreme Court Sides with GOP and Kills Extension for Wisconsin Absentee Ballots

#image_title

#image_title

By UpNorthNews Staff

October 27, 2020

If you mail it on Election Day, it’ll arrive too late and be thrown out.

In one of its final acts as a group of eight, the justices on the US Supreme Court put on display the sharp differences they have on protecting or inhibiting voters’ access to the franchise, even in a pandemic, and struck down an extension of absentee voter deadlines in Wisconsin.

The court’s five conservatives dealt a final blow to a US District Court judge’s order that said Wisconsin voters’ absentee ballots could be postmarked on Election Day and still count if they arrived at local clerks’ offices up to six days later. The goal was to increase safety with home voting while not having an absentee vote wasted by Trump administration slowdowns forced on the US Postal Service.

Instead, the original rules remain in place and ballots must be at the clerk’s office or polling place by 8 p.m. next Tuesday, Nov. 3. Ballots mailed on Election Day will not arrive in time.

The court granted an extension in last spring’s election, and dissenting Justice Elena Kagan noted that the votes of about 80,000 people whose ballots were postmarked on April 3 would have been discarded were it not for the extension. She said the failure to grant an extension this time means “Wisconsin will throw out thousands of timely requested and timely cast mail ballots.”

In all, the eight justices released an unusually large 35 pages of concurring or dissenting opinions. 

More News from Around Wisconsin

Assembly Speaker Becomes a Late Target –Assembly Speaker Robin Vos (R-Rochester) in District 63 has easily won elections in the historically Republican-voting district every two years since first being elected in 2005. But challenger Joel Jacobsen, a former Burlington alderman, thinks he has a shot this year to flip the district.

Daniel Bice of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported Monday night that the state Democratic Party is about to unleash another $400,000 worth of TV ads against Vos.

Assembly Democrats say an internal poll shows Vos within striking distance, up by a manageable 5% against Jacobsen. However, they have not publicly released that data. Since the 2011 Republican gerrymandering, Vos has never been re-elected by a margin of less than 17%. He crushed Jacobsen in 2018, winning by 22%.

DNC Ad Welcomes Trump to West Salem – The Democratic National Committee on Tuesday bought Google ad space for western Wisconsin that leads to a video slamming President Donald Trump for a “reckless campaign tour [and] infecting us.”

The ads went live in advance of Trump’s rally planned for Tuesday in West Salem, his second visit in the last four days. 

Another Reunion Fundraiser for Wisconsin Democrats: ‘Rocky Horror Picture Show’ – The Democratic Party of Wisconsin, already the beneficiary of cast reunions for Veep, Happy Days, The Princess Bride, and Parks and Recreation, has announced a Halloween night livestream featuring music and actors from The Rocky Horror Picture Show.

Consequences of Sound reported the cast reunion will be led by the great Frank N. Furter himself, Tim Curry. Barry Bostick and Nell Campbell, who originated the roles of Brad Majors and Columbia, respectively, will also be in attendance, as will famous ringers including Wilmer Valderrama, Lance Bass, Rosario Dawson, Jason George, Seth Green, Jason Alexander, and David Arquette.

Author

CATEGORIES: Elections

Politics

Local News

Related Stories
Share This