‘MASSIVE DISENFRANCHISEMENT’

SCOTUS Reverses Order Extending Mail-in Voting Deadline in Wisconsin

Justice Ginsberg wrote in her dissent that “tens of thousands of voters who timely requested ballots are unlikely to receive them” as a result of the order.

The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday reversed a lower court order that extended the deadline for voters to mail in their ballots for Tuesday’s primary elections in Wisconsin, asserting that to do so would “fundamentally alter the nature of the election.” The decision from the conservative majority said that allowing Wisconsin residents to vote after Election Day due to the coronavirus pandemic is “extraordinary relief.” All four liberal judges dissented, including Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who said the order will “result in massive disenfranchisement.” She wrote in her dissent that “a voter cannot deliver for postmarking a ballot she has not received. Yet tens of thousands of voters who timely requested ballots are unlikely to receive them by April 7, the court’s postmark deadline.” Wisconsin has reported about 2,500 cases of coronavirus.