Wisconsin voters cast ballots amid the coronavirus pandemic
Democratic presidential candidates Joe Biden and Bernie Sanders are on the ballot as voters cast ballots in the Wisconsin primary; Peter Doocy reports.
There seems to be some confusion about the Supreme Court’s ruling on Monday in connection with Tuesday’s Wisconsin primary. This owes to reporting that suggests or at least could lead its audience to believe, that the court’s five conservative-leaning, Republican-appointed justices, over the strident objection of its four left-leaning, Democratic-appointed justices, directed that the primary proceed with in-person voting, despite the coronavirus threat.
CLICK HERE TO GET THE OPINION NEWSLETTER
That is not what happened.
The state government of Wisconsin, led by Gov. Anthony Steven Evers, a Democrat, made the decision to go forward with the primary, and with in-person voting. As the court’s majority emphasizes, that was not the court’s call, nor is it the court’s place to opine on the wisdom of the state government’s decision.
CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP
The majority’s unsigned opinion explains that the issue the court was called upon to decide was a narrow one, pertaining to absentee ballots. Specifically, at the urging of Democratic Party organizations concerned about the COVID-19 pandemic’s effects on voting, federal District Judge William Conley (an Obama appointee) extended the deadline for receipt of mail-in ballots from Tuesday, April 7 (the primary-election day), to Monday afternoon, April 13. That aspect of the district court’s ruling was not in dispute. Judge Conley, however, directed that absentee ballots were eligible to be counted regardless of when they were mailed in or otherwise delivered, as long as they came in by the April 13 deadline. In effect, that meant absentee ballots could be cast after in-person primary voting had closed on April 7.
Obviously, this could mean the election would be materially altered by events occurring after formal conclusion of the primary election — not least, news about the apparent election result. To address this problem, Judge Conley further ordered the Wisconsin Election Commission and election inspectors to suppress any report of the voting results until after the new April 13 deadline for the receipt of absentee ballots.
CLICK HERE TO CONTINUE READING ANDREW McCARTHY'S COLUMN IN THE NATIONAL REVIEW
Best of Opinion
Get the recap of top opinion commentary and original content throughout the week.
By entering your email and clicking the Subscribe button, you agree to the Fox News Privacy Policy and Terms of Use, and agree to receive content and promotional communications from Fox News. You understand that you can opt-out at any time.