Wisconsin appeals court suspends removal of 209,000 voters News
© WikiMedia (Tom Arthur)
Wisconsin appeals court suspends removal of 209,000 voters

A Wisconsin appeals court on Tuesday temporarily put a hold on Monday’s decision by a county circuit court judge to remove 209,000 voter names after finding the state’s Elections Commission in contempt.

The appeals court decision comes just one day after the circuit court judge’s firm order to purge the voter names and the subsequent response by the state’s supreme court declining a request to immediately hear the case ahead of the appeals level.

Monday’s decision by Judge Paul Malloy ordered the bipartisan Wisconsin Elections Commission to purge the inactive voter names or face daily fines each day until they did so. Of the six members of the Commission, the three dissenting members of the case face a fine of $250 for each day they do not comply with the order.

Malloy denied requests to stay his order pending appeal and the larger legal battle over the ruling, ordering the Elections Commission to act despite efforts to delay the action, saying “nothing has told this court that it can’t act.”

Hours after Malloy’s order to purge the voter names, the Wisconsin Supreme Court responded to requests to immediately hear the case with a split decision order that means the case will move on to an appeals court first, likely not in time for the November 2020 elections.

The Supreme Court’s decision not to hear the case and instead allow it to go through the lower courts was a split 3-3 decision, after Justice Dan Kelly, up for re-election in April, recused himself.

The three dissenting judges stated that in not hearing this case and resolving the issue as soon as possible, the Court “irreparably denies the citizens of Wisconsin a timely resolution of issues that impact voter rights and the integrity of our elections.”

“Leaving this case with the court of appeals may result in the related federal court litigation proceeding in tandem, with the issuance of potentially conflicting orders sowing confusion in the conduct of Wisconsin’s elections.”

Both sides of the aisle have been invested in this case and the political implications, particularly nearing the 2020 general elections in light of Wisconsin’s role as a crucial battleground state for Trump in 2016.

While voters who would potentially have their registration deactivated would have the opportunity to register again or even on Election Day provided they fulfill the proper documentation, Democrat groups have argued that voter turnout would be hurt regardless, seeing the additional processes to re-register a hurdle to get to the polls. Republican groups counter that voter names who have been identified as inactive or inaccurate need to be removed prior to the election to ensure an accurate voting count.

The Wisconsin Court of Appeals decision Tuesday to put a hold on the circuit court order to purge the 209,000 voter names is a temporary victory for the Elections Commission and interest groups seeking to stay the removal of the names ahead of the upcoming elections.