Law Forward and Bloc Urge Supreme Court of Wisconsin to Empower Courts to Stem Disenfranchisement
Amicus brief argues Court of Appeals wrongly ignored the right to vote enshrined in the Wisconsin Constitution and improperly limited courts' power to extend voting hours
MADISON, Wis. — Law Forward today filed an amicus brief on behalf of Black Leaders Organizing for Communities (BLOC), urging the Wisconsin Supreme Court to take up a case that could determine how courts can intervene when the right to vote in Wisconsin elections is threatened.
The brief supports a pending petition asking the state’s high court to review a July 29, 2026, decision by the Wisconsin Court of Appeals, which reversed a 2024 circuit court order that had briefly extended voting hours at two understaffed Whitewater polling locations. On Election Day 2024, lines at the Whitewater Armory and the University of Wisconsin–Whitewater University Center kept voters waiting for hours as the 8 p.m. closing time approached. The Democratic National Committee (DNC) and a Whitewater voter petitioned a circuit court, which authorized voting to continue until 10:30 p.m., so Wisconsinites could exercise their right to vote.
The Court of Appeals reversed that decision, holding that Wisconsin circuit courts lack authority to extend polling hours, regardless of the facts on the ground.
“The Wisconsin’s Constitution guarantees the right to vote, and for a century and a half, our courts have guarded that right when voters faced disenfranchisement through no fault of their own,” said Scott Thompson, Law Forward Staff Counsel. “This case threatens to erode the important role our courts have played in protecting voting rights. The far-reaching consequences of this decision demand that our state’s highest court review the decision quickly and thoroughly.”
Today’s amicus brief argues the Court of Appeals got the law wrong in three ways. First, the decision never addresses Wisconsin’s constitutional right to vote, despite 150 years and at least a dozen Wisconsin Supreme Court decisions holding that voters cannot be disenfranchised for circumstances beyond their own control. Second, it improperly narrows the judiciary’s role as a coequal branch of government, including courts’ long-recognized authority to issue equitable relief, such as extending polling place hours, when the right to vote is under threat. Third, it wrongly suggests that organizations like BLOC and individual voters lack standing to ask a court for help in the first place.
“In 1875, the Wisconsin Supreme Court declared it a ‘fraud on the constitution’ when voters were disenfranchised through no fault of their own. That is still the rule today. Long lines at polling places or any other problem caused by election officials cannot infringe upon our right to access the voting booth,” said Angela Lang, Co-Executive Director of BLOC. BLOC is a Milwaukee-based nonprofit focused on Black civic participation across Wisconsin, including voter registration and get-out-the-vote work in every election cycle since its founding in 2017.
Read the full brief here.
NOTE: This press release was submitted to Urban Milwaukee and was not written by an Urban Milwaukee writer. While it is believed to be reliable, Urban Milwaukee does not guarantee its accuracy or completeness.
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