Federal judge rules in favor of extension to Wisconsin absentee ballots

Judge William Conley, a federal Judge in Wisconsin has ruled in favor of one week extension to number of days for counting absentee ballots in the state.

Giving the ruling on Monday September 21, 2020, Conley said the extension is necessary to protect the right of Wisconsin citizens to votes, and to prevent thousands of Wisconsin voters from being disenfranchised.

The ruling came following four different lawsuits between organizations which include the national Democratic and Republican parties.

While the Democrats favored extension to the deadline for absentee ballots, Republicans demanded that the deadline be maintained.

According to the ruling, the deadline for online and mail-in registration would be extended and the procedure for hiring election officers would be eased as it would skip a state law that mandates election officers’ registration as voters wherever they serve.

The ruling extended the deadline for receipt of absentee ballots to 9th of November provided they are postmarked on the 3rd of November, the day of the election.

Similarly, the ruling extended the deadline for voter registration to 21st of October from the initial 14th of October.

However, the judge anticipated that the ruling may be appealed; therefore, he stated that the rule would not immediately go into effect until after one week.

He warned that voters cannot depend on the extension at the moment except if it is upheld on appeal.

“NO voter can depend on any extension of deadlines for electronic and mail-in registration and for receipt of absentee ballots unless finally upheld on appeal,” he said.

Wisconsin is one of the U.S. states that could greatly influence the November election result between Democratic nominee, Joe Biden and President Donald Trump.