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Clerks in Madison, Milwaukee barred from advising voters to work around voter ID law
House lawmakers voted unanimously Tuesday to delay Pennsylvania's April 28 primary until June 2. The Senate could concur on the plan as soon as Wednesday.
(The Center Square) – Election managers in two of Wisconsin's staunchest Democratic counties can no longer tell voters how to flaunt the state's voter ID laws.
The Wisconsin Supreme Court unanimously ruled on Tuesday that Dane County Clerk Scott McDonell was wrong when he told voters that Gov. Tony Evers' Safer at Home order rendered them "indefinitely confined." McDonell said being confined means voters wouldn't have to send a copy of their ID with their absentee ballot.
"We do not see how the respondents could prevail with an argument that such statements in the March 25th post constitute an accurate statement of the relevant statutory provisions," the court said in its ruling.
The Supreme Court also issued a restraining order that forced McDonell to take down information about indefinite confinement from his Facebook page.
Milwaukee County Clerk George Christenson offered similar advice to McDonell's last week. He too took down his postings after the court's ruling.
McDonell said he will abide by the court's ruling, and in a statement, defended his wrong advice as an attempt to keep older voters safe.
“My intent at all times was to protect the safety of seniors afraid to leave their homes due to this pandemic,” McDonell said in his statement.
The top Republican in the Wisconsin Senate said the ruling sends an important message ahead of next week's Election Day.
"A unanimous Wisconsin Supreme Court decision soundly rejected the far-left politics of clerks in our state who were trying to undermine an election," Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald said on Twitter.
Wisconsin Supreme Court Justice Dan Kelly, who is running for reelection to the court, did not participate in the case.
This article originally ran on thecentersquare.com.
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