Battle for the Ballot
Battleground states count mail ballots, with Biden just shy of votes to clinch presidency
WASHINGTON — Two days after Election Day, the nation waited for vote-counting to finish in several critical states, where the tallying of mail ballots has left Democrat Joe Biden just short of the votes needed to become the next president. Thursday’s updated totals could push Biden beyond the 270 electoral votes needed to secure victory […]
Could Wisconsin’s 2020 election turn out like Florida’s in 2000?
Hundreds of volunteers around Wisconsin are engaging in election protection work this year, says Jay Heck, executive director of the state chapter of Common Cause. “There has been an incredible outpouring of support and volunteering on the part of citizens from all over the state.” Volunteers are working the phones, making themselves available to help […]
Judge orders USPS to accelerate ballot delivery in Wisconsin
A U.S. district court judge in Washington ordered the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) on Friday to speed up the delivery of ballots ahead of Tuesday’s general election. The order comes just days after a U.S. House investigation found that USPS mail delivery timeliness has declined in the last several months, leading to significant mail delays. […]
Wisconsin Supreme Court declines to take Outagamie ballot case, leaving confusion
The conservative majority on the Wisconsin Supreme Court denied a petition from the clerks of Outagamie and Calumet counties asking for guidance on how to correct a printing error on more than 13,500 absentee ballots. The decision, just days before the election, leaves local officials without clear guidance over how to make sure voters’ ballots […]
Absentee ballot rejections could disproportionately harm people of color, ACLU report shows
Wisconsin voters are voting by mail in record numbers this year, many of them people of color in Milwaukee and Dane counties. This shift to mail-in voting and the potential pitfalls of that method may disproportionately affect the votes of non-white people, an ACLU report shows. The report finds that non-white voters are 5% more […]
Wisconsin nears absentee request deadline, ballots shouldn’t be mailed
The deadline for registered voters in Wisconsin to request an absentee ballot is Thursday, Oct. 29. Elections officials say that from now until Election Day absentee ballots should be brought to local drop boxes or handed directly to local clerks — rather than put in the mail — to ensure the ballot arrives by 8 […]
In ‘ominous’ decision for democracy, Supreme Court rejects Wisconsin’s absentee ballot appeal
On Monday evening, just minutes before President Donald Trump held a Rose Garden ceremony to swear in Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barrett, the Court rejected an appeal to extend the deadline for counting mail-in ballots in Wisconsin. Ballots that are mailed before Election Day but arrive after Nov. 3 will not count, under the […]
AG Kaul: Voter intimidation is illegal, breaking that law risks jail time
Anyone planning on scaring voters at the polls had better be ready to go to jail, said Attorney General Josh Kaul. Voter intimidation is against the law in Wisconsin. And Kaul wants to make certain voters know it — and know what to do if they witness or experience any kind of intimidation at the […]
Voters and election officials push forward in the face of politics, lawsuits and infections
Since April the COVID-19 pandemic and Wisconsin’s 2020 election cycle have been on a collision course. Now, with just over two weeks remaining until Election Day, the crash is happening. According to the Wisconsin Elections Commission, 77,448 people have registered to vote since Oct. 1. In that same time period, 37,164 more Wisconsinites tested positive […]
The Wisconsin GOP’s Trump problem
With just over two weeks to go before the 2020 election, Wisconsin is at the center of our nation’s political upheaval. Democrats are appealing to the U.S. Supreme Court to allow election officials more time to count an avalanche of absentee ballots. Meanwhile, a COVID-positive President Donald Trump is coming to Janesville on Saturday. To […]
Wisconsin election case heads to U.S. Supreme Court
The group of organizations suing to loosen some Wisconsin election laws to help with accessing the vote during the COVID-19 pandemic applied for the case to be heard by the U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday. The groups had initially won some relief in district court when Judge William Conley extended deadlines around requesting and returning […]
Counting absentee ballots early is a good idea
On Tuesday, Sen. Chris Larson, along with 22 other Wisconsin legislators, sent a letter to the Republican leaders urging them to meet in extraordinary session to pass a law that would allow clerks to start counting absentee ballots before Election Day. This is an eminently good idea. Wisconsin is one of only two swing states […]