I did a Nightly Nuance on this and just published it. Here’s what went down in Wisconsin, briefly. All 3 branches of government have failed. I’m going to use gifs so we don’t all combust from anger and disgust.
Wisconsin has a stay-at-home order in place through April 24. That includes April 7 - Election Day. This is not just or mostly about Biden v Bernie. This is about a seat on the Wisconsin Supreme Court, hundreds of judgeships, and thousands of other positions
Everyone wanted the show to go on, but then, you know, we all learned how serious Covid-19 is. Governor Evers said he’d like to move the election but he didn’t have the power.
So he calls the Legislature into special session, which doesn’t last long. The Republican majority won’t take up a bill to delay in-person voting.
Several lawsuits are filed. The district court enters a loooong and complex order. Among other things, it keeps in-person voting. It extends absentee voting and says that as long as ballots are received by April 13, they’ll count (doesn’t matter when they’re postmarked).
Republicans appealed to the 7th Circuit and then to the Supreme Court. We’ll come back to that.
Today, while we’re all waiting for the US Supreme Court, Governor Evers says, and I’m paraphrasing, F%&! It, I’m the Governor, and we’re not voting tomorrow in person. Of course, Republicans run to Court.
The Wisconsin Supreme Court says, no dice, Governor. You don’t have the authority to do this.
And the Supreme Court of the United States, tonight, said, “actually, y’all are going to have to get those absentee ballots in the mail tomorrow if you want them to count.”
Why does this matter? A LOT more people in Wisconsin requested an absentee ballot than in the last elections, which created a backlog. Under tonight’s ruling, you might be a Wisconsin voter who receives your ballot on April 8 that was required to be returned on the 7th to count.
And there aren’t going to be enough poll workers to have most locations open. The National Guard will be staffing many locations. You're still supposed to be at home. This whole situation is the most obvious example of disenfranchisement imaginable.
Obviously, despite the 5 conservative justices of the US SCOTUS who made this decision-none of whom would even put their dang name on it (it was per curiam)- saying that it was a very narrow holding, this all raises some serious concerns about you know who and the you know what
And it’s awful and wrong. And Wisconsin, I’m sorry.
