GOP Judges: Wisconsin Voter Suppression on Basis of Party Is Legal. A Blow to Democracy.
June 30th 2020
Portrait of Judge Frank Easterbrook (Frank H. Easterbrook)
By lefthase (of the Daily Kos community)
Three Republican federal judges just dropped a ruling making voting harder in Wisconsin. Before we even get into the details, note that case was sitting for more than 3 years in the 7th Circuit without any action, yet the decision was unanimous. And 127 days before election day. During a pandemic.
From Rick Hasen’s Election Law Blog:
The opinion starts out with a very troubling discussion of Judge Adelman’s findings that some of these restrictive Wisconsin voting laws were passed with racial and partisan animus. The 7th Circuit found little direct evidence of racial discrimination and then suggested, in a very troubling way, that making it harder to vote on the basis of party is perfectly acceptable. (“If one party can make changes that it believes help its candidates, the other can restore the original rules or revise the new ones. The process does not include a constitutional ratchet.”).
In support of this terrible idea, Judge Easterbrook cites the Rucho case from the Supreme Court, which held that there are no judicially manageable standards to separate permissible from impermissible consideration of party in redistricting. But that did not carry over into voting rules, like rules for early voting, and the Supreme Court has never held that partisan animus provides a legitimate basis for discriminatory voting rules.
his is a terrible precedent, and the timing sure doesn’t pass the smell test.
Let’s loop back to that quote Hasen pulls from the decision:
“If one party can make changes that it believes help its candidates, the other can restore the original rules or revise the new ones.”
Judge Easterbrook goes out of his way to talk about how “Wisconsin’s [election] system as a whole is accommodating” and even “easy” compared to some other states.
That “accommodating,” “easy” system is the same one that gives Republicans an almost veto-proof majority (63% of legislative seats) on the basis of their having won only 47% of the vote. How the hell is “the other party” supposed to restore sane voting laws in the face of that ridiculous gerrymander plus voting laws that target our voters because they’re our voters?
Anyway... if you or someone you know lives in Wisconsin, go to MyVote.WI.gov RIGHT NOW and (1) make sure you’re registered and (2) request an absentee ballot for November. To request that absentee ballot, you’ll need to take and upload a photo of your photo ID (seriously) so it’s usually easier to do it on your phone. And when you go to mail-in your ballot, remember to get a witness to sign it first. (Ugh.)
Also, this is why Republicans care so much about appointing judges at all levels.
Joe Biden was not my first, second, third, fourth, or fifth choice, and I’ve still got some policy beefs with him, but I’m damn sure gonna vote for him and do everything I possibly can to help him win and elect Democrats down-ballot. Contact your local Democratic Party (there’s one in every county in WI) and ask them what you can do to help. And since we’re all social distancing, phone-banking from home is always a good option.
Posted with permission