Democratic National Committee v. Boehm

Public Rights Project filed an amicus brief urging the Wisconsin Court of Appeals to reject the argument that only federal courts can grant voting hour extensions. The case centers on an  attempt to block state courts from extending voting hours when urgent circumstances interfere with voters’ ability to cast their ballots. The brief was filed on behalf of Mike Haas, the city attorney and interim clerk for the City of Madison.

The brief argues that the Wisconsin state courts have the inherent authority to extend voting hours where necessary to protect the fundamental right to vote. Voting hour extensions are necessary when an emergency, disaster, technical issue, or other unexpected circumstance prevents voters from casting their ballots during regular voting hours.

It has long been standard practice — endorsed by the Wisconsin Election Commission and numerous state trial courts — for clerks to seek extended hours via the state trial courts. As the amicus brief explains, every county in Wisconsin has a state trial court, and each court has a designated “duty judge” on call to address urgent issues after regular court hours, making these courts highly responsive to requests for voting hours extension requests. By contrast, there are only four federal courthouses in the entire state of Wisconsin, and clerks are not accustomed to interacting with them.

Relying on Haas’s extensive experience since 2008, the brief explains that there hasn’t been a  single instance in which any party has petitioned a federal court to extend polling hours or argued that only federal courts have the authority to extend polling hours. Without access to the state courts, clerks can not as effectively ensure their voters’ constitutional right to vote.