Wisconsin Right Now

A Dane County Circuit court ruled against former Independent party presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr., siding with the Wisconsin Election Commission’s decision to keep Kennedy’s name on the state’s ballot this November, despite his withdrawal from the race and request for removal. Kennedy’s lawsuit argued that, absent a compelling reason, the state’s different treatment for third party candidates violates the Equal Protection Clause and the First Amendment. It claimed the different deadlines for ballot withdrawal for major party candidates versus third-party candidates – Sept. 3 for the former and Aug. 6 for the latter – are unlawfully discriminatory. Judge Stephen E. Ehlke disagreed, saying Kennedy’s request was essentially that the WEC ignore Wisconsin election law, which only allows a certified candidate to exit the ballot in case of death. “Courts are required to apply the law as written, not as some party wishes it were written,” Ehlke said. “Under the statute, t...

Nilsestuen’s decision could be appealed, but it would likely then end up before Wisconsin’s liberal majority Supreme Court. A judge in Dane County says absentee ballots in Wisconsin don’t need a full address to be counted this year. Judge Ryan Nilsestuen ruled local election managers need not reject absentee ballots if the absentee witness’ address is incomplete. "The definition [of an address] preferred by the WEC and the Legislature would establish a simple, bright line rule, but it does not fit within the broader statutory context,” Nilsestuen wrote in his decision. “In fact, it directly conflicts with several other similar terms. Therefore, this definition is improper and, as used by the WEC, invalid." The ruling comes after a judge in Waukesha County ruled last year local election clerks could not count ballots with missing address information. The Waukesha County ruling also forbade clerks from “curing” those ballots by adding the missing information. Nilse...