The question about late absentee ballots in Wisconsin could soon have a national answer.
Democrats in the state, along with advocates in Washington, D.C., yesterday asked the United States Supreme Court to decide whether absentee ballots that come in after Election Day should be counted. A federal appeals court last week said they should not be counted. But the Supreme Court may take the case because courts in other states or other federal regions have said that late ballots can be counted.
Democrats at the Wisconsin Capitol want lawmakers to change state law to allow local election managers to count absentee ballots before the end of Election Day.
Over 20 Democratic lawmakers signed a letter yesterday asking the Republicans who control the state legislature to come back for an extraordinary session and approve an early-count law. Election managers across Wisconsin have warned for weeks that the expected flood of absentee ballots next month will make it impossible to know who won the election on Election Day. The Democrats say over one-point-three-million people in Wisconsin have already requested an absentee ballot.
