Wisconsin Supreme Court Throws Out Trump Case

Christina Kim
By Christina Kim
December 15, 2020NTD Evening News
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In a 4-3 decision, Wisconsin’s Supreme Court tossed out the Trump Campaign’s lawsuit. It sought to invalidate more than 220,000 ballots in Dane and Milwaukee Counties.

The Court rejected the Trump campaign’s case because they say they waited too long to bring the claims. It also said it would not issue a “blanket invalidation of indefinitely confined voters” in Dane County and Milwaukee County.

But earlier in the day, they ruled in favor of the Wisconsin GOP in another case. They said local election officials were wrong in saying that all voters could claim the status of “indefinitely confined” due to the pandemic. They added the “presence” of the pandemic “in and of itself, does not entitle all electors in Wisconsin to obtain an absentee ballot.”

Under Wisconsin’s election laws, anyone who claims to be “indefinitely confined” because of ” age, illness, infirmity, or disability” can bypass photo ID and automatically receive a ballot.

According to the Milwaukee Journal, 215,000 people claimed this status this fall—a near four-fold increase from the last presidential election.

After Gov. Tony Evers issued a stay at home order, Dane County Clerk Scott McDonell sent an email on March 25 to the municipal clerks in his county. He told them, “I am declaring all Dane County voters may indicate as needed that they are indefinitely confined due to illness,” saying that it would make it easier for voters to vote by mail. He urged “all voters who request a ballot and have trouble presenting a valid ID to indicate that they are indefinitely confined.”

Wisconsin’s Supreme Court ruled that this is not allowed.

“A county clerk may not “declare” that any elector is indefinitely confined due to a pandemic”; this must be determined by the individual, the court ruled.

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