DNC v. Boehm

Law Forward filed an amicus brief on behalf of Black Leaders Organizing for Communities (BLOC), urging the Wisconsin Supreme Court to take up Democratic National Committee v. Boehm, which could determine how courts can intervene when the right to vote in Wisconsin elections is threatened.

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. Our brief supports a pending petition asking the state’s high court to review this decision. 

Our 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. Second, it improperly narrows the judiciary’s role as a coequal branch of government. Third, it wrongly suggests that organizations like BLOC and individual voters lack standing to ask a court for help in the first place.