Democratic law firm files absentee ballot lawsuit to overturn Wisconsin rule
Eden Villalovas
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Democrats filed a lawsuit on Thursday to allow Wisconsin voters to return absentee ballots in drop boxes, moving to overturn a decision from the previous conservative-controlled state Supreme Court last year.
The suit was filed against the Wisconsin Elections Commission by the national firm Elias Law Group, which leans Democrat. Attorneys argue the ban “burdens the right to vote”, and forces voters to depend on the United States Postal Service’s “unsecured mailboxes.”
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The Democrats are challenging the state Supreme Court’s ruling to bar the use of absentee ballot drop boxes after former President Donald Trump alleged absentee voting contained fraudulent activity in Wisconsin.
Plaintiffs are also challenging a Wisconsin law under the state court’s ruling, which states any issues with absentee ballots must be corrected by the voter no later than 8 p.m. on Election Day. The lawsuit hopes to establish that the Wisconsin Constitution protects voting as a “right” as opposed to the Wisconsin law, which states voting is a “privilege.”
The lawsuit comes before the conservative Wisconsin Supreme Court will flip to liberal control when voters earlier this year ensured a new 4-3 majority, turning the court blue for the first time in 15 years.
“Previous campaign cycles have put a much needed spotlight on the blatant attempts to use restricted access to absentee voting as a means of voter suppression,” Aneesa McMillan, Deputy Executive Director of Priorities USA, one of the plaintiffs in the lawsuit, said in a press release.
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President Joe Biden beat out Trump in the Badger State in 2020 by a little fewer than 21,000 votes after Trump won the state in 2016 by slim margins.
Absentee voting skyrocketed in 2020 during the coronavirus pandemic, with 43% of voters casting ballots by mail compared to 21% of mailed ballots in 2016, according to U.S. Census Bureau data.