Madison’s Law Forward ramps up election protection efforts

Our democracy and our elections are under attack. Fighting back is more important now than ever as the federal government pushes a barrage of anti-democratic proposals ahead of the November elections. As Wisconsin’s only nonpartisan, nonprofit law firm working full time to defend our democracy, Law Forward is standing up for Wisconsin voters in federal and state court.

The U.S. Postal Service (USPS) recently issued a  proposed rule in response to a March presidential executive order seeking to exert federal control over mail-in voting in elections for federal offices, such as the U.S. Congress and the presidency. The rules would allow the Trump administration to obtain lists of eligible absentee voters from each state and direct the USPS to deliver mail ballots only to those on the list, effectively putting the federal government in charge of who can and cannot vote by mail.

Voting rights groups and election officials argue that the proposal exceeds the president’s authority, violates the separation of powers, infringes on voters’ privacy rights and risks chaos ahead of the midterms, all in a purported effort to root out a handful of noncitizen voters who are already subject to criminal penalties. The proposal effectively holds states hostage: Turn over lists of registered absentee voters, or be ineligible for postal delivery of ballots.

We are taking multiple steps to protect Wisconsin voters’ rights and privacy. First, we filed formal comments to USPS objecting to the proposal.

Next, on behalf of Common Cause Wisconsin, Law Forward and the ACLU intervened in U.S. v. Wisconsin Elections Commission (WEC), a federal case where the U.S. Department of Justice demanded full access to Wisconsin voter rolls, including confidential data that state law protects from release. We prevailed in May, and the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals declined to expedite the federal government’s appeal, making it unlikely that this case will be resolved before the November elections.

In other good news, the Trump administration is 0-21 in these cases over state (and Washington, D.C.) voting rolls. Federal judges across the nation have consistently ruled that the U.S. Constitution clearly makes voting administration the job of state governments, not the federal government.

In addition, Law Forward filed amicus briefs in two other lawsuits challenging the executive order about absentee voting. These cases are proceeding in federal courts in Boston and Washington, D.C., and our brief argues that the executive order and USPS’s rule would upend Wisconsin’s uniquely decentralized election system and disenfranchise eligible Wisconsin voters.

Among the rule’s many problems: It would require placing unique bar codes on every mail-in ballot envelope, but only two cities where Wisconsin mail is routed have the equipment to read these bar codes. The proposal would likely mean longer delays for mail-in ballots, especially in rural areas, at a time when far too many ballots already arrive after Election Day. In Milwaukee, 336 absentee ballots arrived the day after the April 2026 election and were rejected; in Fond du Lac County, more than 100 met the same fate.

On June 18, federal judge Indira Talwani put the executive order on hold in the Boston case, ruling that the president and USPS lack authority to regulate voting. Her ruling effectively blocked the proposed USPS rule from proceeding with respect to voting in the 23 states, including Wisconsin, participating in the lawsuit.

The bad news? U.S. DOJ tried to get the appeals court to put a hold on the ruling, but they struck out. Now they are asking the U.S. Supreme Court to do so. The Supreme Court is likely to act soon, which is why we moved swiftly to file another brief in the nation’s highest court this week, demonstrating the harm to Wisconsin voters if the USPS rule is allowed to go forward.

Finally, mounting mail delays also prompted us to act locally. Last week, Law Forward and the Fair Elections Center, acting on behalf of the League of Women Voters of Wisconsin, sued in Dane County, asking the court to allow voters whose mailed ballot is delayed and unlikely to arrive on time to use a provisional ballot to ensure that they can exercise their constitutional right to vote. Provisional ballots are commonly used in Wisconsin elections. In this instance such ballots could be sealed, set aside, and counted only after officials have confirmed that the voter’s mailed ballot was not delivered on time or never arrived.

The U.S. Constitution is clear that elections are run by states, not the federal government. The reasons for this are obvious. As a fundamental aspect of our constitutional order, our nation’s founders intended to protect our democracy from the machinations of a would-be despot. This year, more than ever, we are called to defend that principle and protect the rights of every Wisconsin voter. Law Forward is doing precisely that.

By Rachel Snyder, Policy Counsel. Originally published in the Cap Times on August 9, 2026.