The Supreme Court of Wisconsin, in a per curiam opinion, ordered state election officials on Friday to include US Representative Dean Phillips on the state’s Democratic presidential primary ballot.

The court noted that, under Wisconsin law, the ballot selection committee has discretion to determine if candidates are “generally advocated or recognized in the national news media throughout the United States.” If this standard is met, the committee has to place the candidate on the ballot. The court found that the committee was only going to list President Joe Biden on the ballot “without any discussion” about any other candidate. Because of this, the court ruled that the committee “erroneously exercised its discretion” with respect to Phillips because it did not weigh the facts and apply the standard to all candidates. Thus, the court ordered the committee to add Phillips to the ballot because of how soon the primaries are.

Phillips will now appear alongside Biden as the two Democrats on the presidential primary ballots in April. On the Republican side, the Wisconsin ballot includes former President Donald Trump and several other Republican candidates.

In response to the ruling, Phillips stated, “The Wisconsin Supreme Court’s ruling is the second time that Biden’s state party allies have had their anti-democratic, improper conduct reversed. The first was by the Massachusetts Secretary of State.” In January, Massachusetts revealed who will be listed on its ballots, including Democrat candidates Phillips, Marianne Williamson and Biden. 

This is not the only action the Supreme Court of Wisconsin has taken in the lead-up to the 2024 elections. In December, the court ruled 4-3 that the state legislature’s assembly district maps are unconstitutional under the Wisconsin Constitution on Wednesday and ordered new remedial maps to be drawn for the 2024 elections.