Monday, the Wisconsin Supreme Court rejected the Green Party’s request to appear on the November ballot in Wisconsin in a 4–3 vote.
Earlier this week, the Court halted the delivery of absentee ballots until the court could settle the matter. The Green Party’s lawsuit would have required ballots to be reprinted, making it difficult for local elected officials to meet mandated deadlines for mailing out absentee ballots.
According to the decision, state law requires municipal election clerks to mail out ballots which have already been requested by Sept. 17.
“Ordering new ballots to be printed would be an expensive and time consuming process that would not allow counties and municipalities to meet the statutory deadlines for delivering and sending ballots,” the decision said.
Wisconsin Supreme Court halts dissemination of absentee ballots in response to lawsuit
The Green Party’s application to appear on the ballot was rejected by the Wisconsin Election Commission in a 3–3 party line vote, after their vice presidential candidate Angela Walker filed paperwork incorrectly stating her address. The mistake invalidated just enough signatures that the party failed to meet the minimum required to appear on the ballot.
Conservative Judge Annette Ziegler was among the three who dissented.
“It is ultimate voter suppression when a candidate who presumptively belongs on the ballot is denied ballot access,” Ziegler wrote.
The decision means Libertarian candidate Jo Jorgensen is the only other candidate appearing on the ballot beside President Donald Trump and Former Vice President Joe Biden.
Friday, a circuit court judge also rejected rapper Kanye West’s appeal to be placed on the ballot, confirming a previous decision by the state election commission. In August, the commission rejected West’s election paperwork in a 5–1 vote on the grounds it had been submitted late after the rapper missed a 5 p.m. filing deadline by mere minutes.
Closer look at Green Party’s attempt to enter Wisconsin ballot
Wisconsin Democratic Attorney General Josh Kaul wrote about the decision in a press release.
“Election chaos averted,” Kaul said. “Thank you to the members of our team at the Wisconsin Department of Justice and the election officials across the state whose quick work helped safeguard the smooth functioning of the upcoming election.”
Trump won Wisconsin by 23,000 votes in the 2016 election. In that election, third-party candidates received a total of 188,000 votes. While a majority of those votes went to the Libertarian Party, the Green Party received 31,000 votes — more than Trump’s margin of victory.
