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Madison, Wisconsin — Wisconsin Republicans may have overplayed their political hand in their legal war against voting.
Many disabled Wisconsinites believe they may vote, though they need to vote absentee and physically cannot travel to election clerks and drop off their absentee ballots. They believe their voting franchise persists, irrespective of physical ability.
Wrong, say Republicans on the Wisconsin Supreme Court, (not really a Court, just a raw political body, protected by both Democrats and Republicans), in its July 2022 edict-opinion in Teigen v. Wisconsin Elections Commission (Case NO.: 2022AP91). (See Teigen opinion and Teigen case history.) (See also Law Forward.)
The Wisconsin Supreme Court ruled absentee ballot drop boxes are henceforth illegal and that only voters can return their absentee ballots in person to their clerk’s offices or official designated sites, drop boxes.
If physical ability prevents voters from returning their ballots without help, too bad is the effect of the ruling and a seemingly purposefully provocative statement of interpretation of Teigen from Meagan Wolfe, Democrat-leaning Administrator of the Wisconsin Elections Commission: "the voter is the one required to mail their ballot," (CBS News-Minnesota).
Disabled Wisconsinites and their supporters say corrupt Wisconsin justices are ignoring federal law and the United States Constitution, citing several Amendments, the powerful Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), the Voting Rights Act, and other federal legislation. See also Associated Press.
Even Frank Easterbrook, ace Republican operative on the Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit, is thought to have a tough time [for his future anti-voting moves] with this new scheme to stop voters unpopular with Republicans.
The case is currently before the liberal-dominated U.S. District Court for the Western District of Wisconsin.
The case is Timothy Carey v Wisconsin Elections Commission.
The complaint reads in part:
Some voters with disabilities, including Plaintiffs, require ballot-return assistance and are physically incapable of voting in person on election day.Perilous politics
For these voters, Wisconsin’s absentee-voting program is not just a program available to every Wisconsin voter, regardless of their physical ability.
Rather, it is their only means of accessing the franchise. Unless redressed by this Court, the prohibition on ballot-return assistance announced by Administrator Wolfe will eliminate these voters’ right to vote altogether.
This is unlawful. Federal law guarantees that voters with disabilities enjoy full and equal access to state voting programs and thus that they are entitled to ballot-return assistance. And when a state makes it impossible for some voters with disabilities to vote at all, it violates the U.S. Constitution.
Following the Teigen ruling and Administrator Wolfe’s interpretation of that decision, Wisconsin voters with disabilities are in a glaringly unequal position.
They are prohibited under Teigen from using ballot-return assistance to deliver their ballot in person to the municipal clerk.
Politically, and for many — morally, Republicans are on thin ice, challenging rights and humanity of fellow citizens, based on their physical ability.
It's okay to impugn, lie, defame and refuse issue dialogue in American politics. From Hillary Clinton to Joe Biden to Donald Trump, descents into politcal malice and inanity are legion.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates some 900,000 Wisconsin residents suffer some kind of disability.
Even as legal forces defending the disabled work to stop other candidates from gaining ballot access, this latest effort of Republicans to stop voters from voting with minimal help of municipal clerks likely will not play legally or politically.
"Rank distortion" of statutes and unsubstantiated rhetoric define majority (Republican) opinion, notes dissent.
