House Speaker Nancy Pelosi says Wisconsin primary voters are being forced to choose between voting or risking catching the coronavirus after the Supreme Court blocked the state from extending its absentee mailing period.
In a 5-4 vote, conservative justices voted against a lower court order, which permitted Wisconsin to extend absentee mailing until April 13 to give voters more time to vote from home.
Pelosi condemned the Supreme Court’s decision in an interview with MSNBC host Rachel Maddow.
“People should not have to decide whether they can vote or be sick. That's just not a good choice for anyone in a democracy," Pelosi said. She said the decision was “undermining our democracy” and “really shameful.”
The majority opinion from the Supreme Court was that granting the extension “fundamentally alters the nature of the election.”
“The court would prefer not to do so, but when a lower court intervenes and alters the election rules so close to the election date, our precedents indicate that this court, as appropriate, should correct that error,” the majority wrote.
The Supreme Court’s decision came hours before the Wisconsin Supreme Court denied efforts from Gov. Tony Evers to postpone the vote until July 9 and allow mail and absentee ballots to be sent in before then.
Evers issued an executive order to postpone the primary election so voters did not have to fear putting their health in jeopardy to cast a ballot.
Ballots must be postmarked today and will be accepted until April 13.
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