Apr. 4, 2020 1p
(WPR)---Republican legislative leaders say they won’t take up the governor’s plan to conduct the spring election by mail, and they’re planning to appeal other election changes to the U.S. Supreme Court.
The leaders responded to a Friday night ruling by a federal court that blocked some of the election orders put in place last week by a judge, and upheld others.
Responding to state measures intended to slow the spread of the deadly COVID-19 virus, Judge William Conley had granted Wisconsin clerks additional time to receive and tally absentee ballots, ruling that the deadline for the ballots would be April 13 rather than the scheduled April 7 Election Day. On Friday night, the federal 7th Circuit Court of Appeals upheld most of the order, but struck a portion that would have permitted clerks to count absentee ballots that lacked a witness signature.
Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald and Assembly Speaker Robin Vos, both Republicans, issued a statement indicating they’ll seek even stricter limits on absentee balloting, as clerks across the state face the prospect of tallying more than a million absentee ballots in total.
"We accept that clerks need more time to count ballots," the statement said. "We still have grave concerns about election security by allowing votes to be postmarked or submitted after Election Day, and plan to appeal that issue to the United States Supreme Court."
On Friday, Gov. Tony Evers, a Democrat, called a special legislative session for 4 p.m. Saturday to take up legislation delaying Tuesday’s election and ensuring access to mail-in ballots. The GOP leaders have rejected those calls, and it’s possible they will call the special session and end it in minutes without taking any action, as they previously did in response to a special session intended to address gun violence in the state.
Most municipalities in the state are experiencing shortages of poll workers, and the shortages are critical in many places, a survey by the Wisconsin Elections Commission found. The number of polling places has been severely curtailed in the state’s largest cities, raising the prospect that voters will face long lines and unsafe conditions on Tuesday.
Editor's note: This story will be updated.
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