Fabick v. WEC

No. 21-AP-428-OA

On April 1, 2021 Law Forward, representing members of the Wisconsin Voting Rights Coalition, asked the State Supreme Court to deny the Petition for an Original Action filed in Fabick v. Wisconsin Elections Commission.  Fabick’s petition requests the Court take emergency action, bypassing trial and intermediate appellate courts, to change absentee voting requirements for the April 6th spring election.

On behalf of the League of Women Voters of Wisconsin, Milwaukee Souls to the Polls Alliance, Disability Rights Wisconsin, Wisconsin Faith Voices for Justice, the Wisconsin Democracy Campaign, and Wisconsin Conservation Voices, Law Forward argued that with absentee voting well underway, any action by the Court so close to the election would undermine voting rights. Fabick’s delay in raising these issues (several of which were already litigated after the November election) is inexcusable.

Fabick’s petition asks the Court to ban the use of drop boxes, stop local clerks from curing missing witness address information on returned ballot envelopes, and prevent neighbors or others from assisting a voter by returning their sealed absentee ballot to the clerk. Voters should be able to rely on the options for returning their absentee ballots that were available when they requested them.

This last-minute legal challenge to established election procedures is part of a pattern to undermine voting rights in the State of Wisconsin. Law Forward will continue to fight for a functioning democracy where all can make their voices heard.

Case Timeline


 

April 1, 2021

Brief filed.

June 25, 2021

At the urging of Law Forward’s clients and others, the State Supreme Court declined to take up this last-minute challenge to absentee voting before the April election, protecting the votes of thousands of Wisconsinites. Today this victory is complete: the Court has now fully rejected the petition for original action in this case, leaving existing voting procedures in place.

Read on to hear more about the attempt to undermine absentee voting and the brief we filed on behalf of members of the Wisconsin Voting Rights Coalition.

CASE CATEGORY:
Voting Rights & Access

JURISDICTION:
Wisconsin Supreme Court

CASE STAGE
Win