The Republican National Committee and Republican Party of Wisconsin have filed a motion to intervene in Priorities USA v. Wisconsin Elections Commission, an election lawsuit filed in the Badger State by attorney Marc Elias, known as the fixer for the Democratic Party and its politicians.
The original suit, filed in Dane County Circuit Court by the Elias Law Group in July, demands Wisconsin voters be once again allowed to return absentee ballots in drop boxes.
Last year, the Wisconsin Supreme Court outlawed the use of drop boxes, which were widely employed in the irregularity-plagued 2020 presidential election. They were particularly in abundance in the so-called “Wisconsin-5 cities,” Democrat-heavy Milwaukee, Madison, Green Bay, Kenosha and Racine, where liberal voting activists poured millions of dollars of “safe election” grants funded by Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg.
The RNC and the Wisconsin GOP were joined in the election integrity motion by Walworth County GOP, Rock County GOP, and RITE PAC.
The conservative-led Wisconsin Supreme Court opinion clarified that “only the legislature may permit absentee voting via ballot drop boxes. WEC [the Wisconsin Elections Commission] cannot. Ballot drop boxes appear nowhere in the detailed statutory system for absentee voting. WEC’s authorization of ballot drop boxes was unlawful…”
Days before the state’s high court shifted on August 1 from a 4-3 conservative majority to a 4-3 advantage for liberals, Democrats led by Elias’ law firm filed the lawsuit seeking to undo the state Supreme Court’s previous ruling.
“Wisconsin election integrity is under attack from far left dark-money groups bent on destroying basic voting safeguards, so the RNC, RPW, and RITE are legally intervening to ensure that Wisconsinites can have faith in their election process,” RNC Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel in a press release. As Democrats compete to see who can launch the most self-serving and frivolous attack on election integrity, Republicans remain committed to protecting your vote in the Badger State and nationwide.”
The plaintiffs in the lawsuit have argued drop boxes are more secure than the U.S. mail.
“By restricting Wisconsin voters’ options for returning their absentee ballots and having those ballots properly counted, the Drop Box Prohibition severely burdens the right to vote,” the lawsuit claims. “Without the opportunity to drop off their absentee ballots at drop boxes, voters must instead rely on the U.S. Postal Service — and its unsecured mailboxes — to deliver their absentee ballot and simply hope that the ballot arrives by election day.”
The Wisconsin GOP argues the law doesn’t consider absentee ballots drop boxes. The court would effectively be writing law, a power it does not have, should it overturn the ruling.
“Despite the schemes of overtly far-left groups like Law Forward and the Elias Group, the Republican Party of Wisconsin will continue to ensure Wisconsin voters have full confidence in our elections,” said Republican Party of Wisconsin Chairman Brian Schimming. “While Democrats attempt to undo common sense voting measures like requiring witness signatures on absentee ballots, we will continue to fight back against Democrat efforts to undermine safeguards every step of the way. Having safeguards in our elections should be a bipartisan issue; Wisconsinites in every corner of the state want fair and transparent elections.”
As The Star News Network reported this week, the liberal D.C. law firm behind the lawsuit was founded by Marc Elias, Hillary Clinton’s political fixer. Elias helped bankroll the infamous — and bogus — Trump-Russia dossier.
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M.D. Kittle is the National Political Editor for The Star News Network.
Photo “Mail in Ballots” by Cindy Shebley. CC BY 2.0.
