Federal Judge Declines to Block Grant Money for Elections for Five Wisconsin Cities
Friday, October 16th, 2020 -- 9:04 AM
(AP) -A federal judge on Wednesday declined to block more than $6 million in election grant money to five Wisconsin cities that a conservative group argued amounted to bribery designed to increase voter turnout in Democratic strongholds.U.S. District Judge William Griesbach denied a request from the Wisconsin Voters Alliance and seven of its members, saying he found nothing in the law to prohibit the cities being awarded the money. Absent that prohibition, the court has no power to stop cities from accepting the money and to do so would run afoul of a U.S. Supreme Court admonition not to change electoral rules close to an election, Griesbach said. Attorneys for the Wisconsin Voters Alliance did not immediately return messages seeking comment. The lawsuit filed in September claims that the grants announced in July by the nonprofit Center for Tech and Civic Life violate federal election law giving states, not cities, discretion on implementing federal election law.
The lawsuit argued that the grants create unconstitutional public-private partnerships that give an appearance of undue influence on a federal election. The $6.3 million in funding was awarded to Green Bay, Kenosha, Madison, Milwaukee and Racine. The judge on Wednesday rejected a request to temporarily block the funding, saying those who brought the lawsuit failed to show a reasonable likelihood of success on the merits of the claim.
Feel free to contact us with questions and/or comments.