Justia Election Law Opinion Summaries

Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. and Nicole Shanahan submitted nomination papers to the Wisconsin Elections Commission (WEC) to run as independent candidates for President and Vice President in the November 2024 election. On August 23, 2024, Kennedy requested to withdraw his candidacy, but WEC denied his request based on Wisconsin law, which states that a candidate who has filed nomination papers cannot decline the nomination unless they die. Consequently, WEC included Kennedy's name on the certified list of candidates.Kennedy sought judicial review of WEC's decision in the Dane County Circuit Court and filed a motion for a temporary injunction to remove his name from the ballot. The circuit court denied the motion, concluding that Kennedy had not demonstrated irreparable harm, that the injunction would alter the status quo, and that he had no reasonable probability of success on the merits. The court also found that Kennedy's constitutional claims lacked legal merit.The Wisconsin Supreme Court reviewed the circuit court's decision to deny the temporary injunction. The Supreme Court's task was to determine whether the circuit court had properly exercised its discretion. The Supreme Court concluded that Kennedy failed to demonstrate that the circuit court had erred in its decision. Specifically, Kennedy did not adequately argue that the circuit court misinterpreted the relevant statute or that his constitutional claims had merit. As a result, the Supreme Court affirmed the circuit court's order denying the temporary injunction. View "Kennedy v. Wisconsin Elections Commission" on Justia Law

The case involves a challenge to several voting requirements in Wisconsin, including the requirement that absentee ballots be returned only by mail or in person to the clerk's office and not to a secure drop box. The Circuit Court for Dane County dismissed the claim related to the drop box, citing a previous decision, Teigen v. Wisconsin Elections Commission, which determined that the use of ballot drop boxes was not allowed under Wisconsin law.The Supreme Court of Wisconsin, however, disagreed with the lower court's interpretation of the law. The Supreme Court found that the language of the relevant statute, Wisconsin Statute § 6.87(4)(b)1, allows for the use of ballot drop boxes. The court noted that the statute requires that a completed absentee ballot be "mailed by the elector, or delivered in person, to the municipal clerk issuing the ballot or ballots." The court interpreted this to mean that delivering a ballot to a drop box is a means of delivering it in person "to the municipal clerk."The court also rejected the argument that the use of drop boxes contravenes the legislative policy expressed in Wisconsin Statute § 6.84(1), which states that absentee balloting must be "carefully regulated." The court found that drop boxes are a form of regulation and are consistent with the decentralized system of election administration in Wisconsin.The Supreme Court of Wisconsin therefore reversed the order of the Circuit Court for Dane County dismissing the claim related to the drop box and remanded the case back to the lower court to reinstate the claim. View "Priorities USA v. Wisconsin Elections Commission" on Justia Law

A group of voters and officials in Wisconsin brought a case before the Supreme Court of Wisconsin, arguing that the state's current legislative districts were not contiguous and therefore violated the state constitution. The respondents countered that the districts were contiguous, as they included separate, detached territories known as "municipal islands." The court ruled in favor of the petitioners, holding that the current legislative districts did not meet the contiguity requirements of the state constitution. The court explained that "contiguous territory" means territory that is physically touching, and the current districts, which include separate, detached parts, do not meet this requirement. The court also rejected the respondents' defenses of lack of standing, laches, issue preclusion, claim preclusion, and judicial estoppel. As a remedy, the court enjoined the Wisconsin Elections Commission from using the current legislative maps in future elections and urged the legislature to pass legislation creating new maps that satisfy all legal requirements. The court also set forth a process for adopting new state legislative districts if the legislature fails to enact new maps. View "Clarke v. Wisconsin Elections Commission" on Justia Law

The Supreme Court held that the challenges to the victim's rights amendment termed "Marsy's Law" that was brought by Wisconsin Justice Initiative, Inc. and several citizens (WJI) failed and that the amendment was validly ratified and properly part of the Wisconsin Constitution.In April 2020, the people of Wisconsin ratified Marsy's Law. In this action, WJI argued that the ballot question for Marsy's Law that was submitted to Wisconsin voters violated Wis. Const. art. XII, 1 because it misled voters by neglecting the amendment's impact on the rights of criminal defendants. The circuit court granted declaratory judgment for WJI, concluding that the ballot question failed to meet requirements as to content and form. The Supreme Court reversed, holding that Mary's Law was validly submitted to and ratified by voters, as required by the constitution. View "Wis. Justice Initiative, Inc. v. Wis. Elections Comm'n" on Justia Law

The Supreme Court granted Petitioner's petition for a supervisory writ claiming that petitions for leave to appeal filed by the Democratic National Committee (DNC) and Rise, Inc. in Kormanik v. Wisconsin Elections Commission were pending in the incorrect appellate district, holding that the appellate order transferring venue from District II to District IV must be vacated.Petitioner brought an action against the Wisconsin Elections Committee (WEC), alleging that two documents provided by the WEC to municipal clerks misinterpreted certain election statutes as permitting a clerk to "spoil" an absence ballot at an elector's request. The DNC and Rise subsequently intervened in the matter. The circuit court required the WEC to withdraw the challenged documents. The DNC and Rise filed separate petitions for leave to appeal. After the court of appeals concluded that venue was appropriate in District IV Petitioner filed a petition for a supervisory writ. The Supreme Court granted the writ, holding the circuit court judge violated his plain duty to venue the appeal in the correct district by ordering transfer of appellate venue from District II to District IV. View "Kormanik v. Brash" on Justia Law

In this case concerning two documents created by employees of the Wisconsin Elections Commission (WEC) that authorized municipal clerks and local election officials to establish ballot drop boxes the Supreme Court held that the documents were invalid because ballot drop boxes are illegal under Wisconsin statutes.Two Wisconsin voters brought this action challenging the validity of the documents, arguing, among other things, that, under Wisconsin statutes, drop boxes are illegal. The circuit court granted summary judgment in favor of Plaintiffs. The Supreme Court affirmed, holding (1) an absentee ballot must be returned by mail or the voter must personally deliver it to the municipal clerk at the clerk's officer or a designated alternate site, not an inanimate object; and (2) therefore, the documents were invalid. View "Teigen v. Wisconsin Elections Commission" on Justia Law

In this original action filed by Petitioners to remedy malapportionment in Wisconsin's state legislative and congressional districts the Supreme Court held that the maps proposed by the Wisconsin Legislature were race neutral.On March 3, 2022, the Supreme Court selected legislative and congressional maps drawn by Governor Tony Evers. On certiorari review, the United States Supreme Court summarily reversed, concluding that racial motivations drove the Governor's selection of district lines. On remand, the Supreme Court held (1) the maps proposed by the Governor, Senator Janet Bewley, Black Leaders Organizing for Communities, and Citizen Mathematicians and Scientists were racially motivated and failed strict scrutiny under the Equal Protection Clause; and (2) this Court adopts the state senate and assembly maps proposed by the State Legislature. View "Johnson v. Wisconsin Elections Commission" on Justia Law

The Supreme Court affirmed the decision of the court of appeals, which summarily affirmed the decision of the circuit court affirming the results of a referendum recount conducted pursuant to Wis. Stat. 9.01, holding that Wis. Stat. 7.54 does not apply when an appeal of the result of a recount by the board of canvassers is before an appellate court.On review, Petitioners - James Sewell and George Myers - argued that the Racine Unified School District Board of Canvassers mistakenly calculated the recount's vote totals and that Sewell had an absolute right under section 7.54 to have the ballots opened and reviewed in circuit court. The circuit court affirmed the Board of Canvassers' recount, and the court of appeals affirmed. The Supreme Court affirmed, holding that while section 7.54 appears to provide an occasion to utilize its provisions in regard to a contested election, it did not apply in this case. View "Sewell v. Racine Unified School District Board of Canvassers" on Justia Law

The Supreme Court remedied a malapportionment in existing maps reflecting the legislative districts across the state, while ensuring the maps satisfy all other constitutional and statutory requirements, but held that claims of political unfairness in the maps present political questions, not legal ones.In 2021, the Wisconsin legislature drew maps reflecting the legislative districts across the state, and the governor vetoed them. The parties agreed that the existing maps had become unconstitutional since they were enacted into law in 2011. Petitioners filed a petition for leave to commence an original action in the Supreme Court asking it to declare the existing maps in violation of Wis. Const. art. IV, 3 and requesting a mandatory injunction remedying the unconstitutional plans. The Supreme Court held (1) this Court will remedy the fact that the maps no longer comply with the constitutional requirement of an equal number of citizens in each legislative district, due to shifts in population across the state; but (2) claims of political fairness in the maps present political questions that must be resolved through the political process and not by the judiciary. View "Johnson v. Wisconsin Elections Commission" on Justia Law

The Supreme Court affirmed the decision of the court of appeals reversing the circuit court's writ of mandamus and contempt orders in this case, holding that Wis. Stat. 6.50(3) does not place a positive and plain duty on the Wisconsin Elections Commission to change the registration status of eligible voters when receiving reliable information that the elector moved out of their municipality.Petitioners sought a writ of mandamus against the Commission and its commissioners to carry out the instructions set forth in section 6.50(3) and change the registration of electors who may have moved. The circuit court granted the writ and later found several commissioners in contempt after the Commission failed to comply. The court of appeals reversed, concluding that the writ was erroneously granted. The Supreme Court affirmed, holding that the circuit court erred by issuing a writ of mandamus ordering the Commission to carry out the requirements of section 6.50(e) because the Commission has no statutory duty, and therefore, no plain and positive duty, to carry out the requirements of the statute. View "Zignego v. Wisconsin Elections Commission" on Justia Law