Wisconsin Supreme Court Upholds Lowering Court Ruling Regarding Mobile Voting Sites

Thursday, June 13th, 2024 -- 11:00 AM

(AP) The Wisconsin Supreme Court kept a lower court’s ruling banning the use of mobile voting sites in the upcoming presidential election in place for now, a win for Republicans.

However, in a victory for Democrats, the court also ensured late Tuesday that municipalities across the battleground state can use the same method in place since 2016 to determine where to locate early voting sites for the upcoming August primary and November presidential election.

They just can’t use mobile sites, like Racine did in 2022 when it allowed ballots to be cast in a van that traveled around the city. The order came just ahead of Wednesday’s deadline for municipalities to designate alternate locations for voters to cast early, absentee ballots.

Wisconsin state law prohibits locating any early voting site in a place that gives an advantage to any political party. At issue in the current case is how to interpret that law.

The Racine County Circuit Court said in January that the mobile voting vans in Racine were not allowed under the law. Additionally, the van was placed in areas that were advantageous to Democrats, also in violation of the law, the court ruled.

The court said state law means that an advantage to a political party can only be avoided if voters in the immediate vicinity of the early voting location cast their ballots exactly the same as voters who live in the immediate vicinity of the municipal clerk’s office.

The Supreme Court put that interpretation on hold Tuesday.

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