The Supreme Court reached a 5-3 decision Monday to reject an extension for mail-in ballots in Wisconsin.
What We Know:
- Wisconsin Democrats pushed the court to allow for ballots received up to six days after Election Day to be counted, so long as they were postmarked by November 3rd. The court’s decision means that mail-in ballots in Wisconsin can only be counted if they are received by Election Day.
- Justices Elena Kagan, Sonia Sotomayor, and Stephen Breyer dissented from the decision. Chief Justice John Roberts wrote in his concurring opinion that this case would have been “federal intrusion on state lawmaking processes”. This is the latest example of federal courts deciding not to change voting laws right before the election.
- The Supreme Court also ruled in a similar case in Pennsylvania but allowed the deadline for mail-in ballots to be extended. This is because the decision to extend the deadline was originally made by a Pennsylvania state court, not a federal court, and they were just upholding the decision.
“Different bodies of law and different precedents govern these two situations and require, in these particular circumstances, that we allow the modification of election rules in Pennsylvania but not Wisconsin.” – Chief Justice John Roberts
- Justice Kagan wrote in her dissent “As the COVID pandemic rages, the Court has failed to adequately protect the Nation’s voters . . . Tens of thousands of Wisconsinites, through no fault of their own, may receive their ballots too late to return them by Election Day.”
The Wisconsin Democratic Party continues to educate voters and is urging people to hand-deliver their ballots so they are submitted in time.
