Wisconsin’s Supreme Court ruled on Monday that public health restrictions amid the CCP virus pandemic are not valid reasons for people to vote absentee without showing an ID.
Under Wisconsin’s election law, a voter may declare him- or herself “indefinitely confined” because of age, physical illness, or infirmity—a status that allows one to submit an absentee ballot application without providing a photo ID. In a March 25 statement on his Facebook, Dane County clerk Scott McDonell encouraged “all voters who request a ballot and have trouble presenting a valid ID” to “indicate as needed that they are indefinitely confined due to illness.”
“This declaration will make it easier for Dane County voters to participate in this election by mail in these difficult times,” McDonell said, citing Gov. Tony Evers’ stay-at-home order.
The Wisconsin Republican Party promptly sued McDonell for his message, arguing that the action suggested was abuse of the indefinitely confined status as a means to bypass voter ID requirements. The Wisconsin Supreme Court justices have ordered the clerk rescinded the statement.
In its final decision (pdf) on Monday, the court sided with the state Republican Party, saying that whether to declare oneself indefinitely confined is up to individual voters, not county clerks or anyone else. The justices also ruled that the governor’s stay-at-home order doesn’t mean everyone is indefinitely confined.
“The plain language of (Wisconsin’s election law) requires that each elector make an individual assessment to determine whether he or she qualifies as indefinitely confined or disabled for an indefinite period,” Chief Justice Patience Roggensack wrote in the majority opinion. “A county clerk may not ‘declare’ that any elector is indefinitely confined due to a pandemic.”…
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