WASHINGTON, D.C. — Today, Priorities USA announced its support for the Wisconsin Alliance for Retired Americans’ intervention in Brown v. Wisconsin Elections Commission to protect the use of a mobile voting vehicle in Racine, Wisconsin.
In the initial lawsuit, filed by the Wisconsin Institute for Law & Liberty, the Plaintiff argues that state law prohibits the City of Racine from utilizing a mobile voting vehicle to offer early voting– which is called in-person absentee voting in Wisconsin– at various locations throughout the City. The City made this option available to voters during the primary and general elections in 2022, and thousands of voters took advantage of it.
If granted intervention the Wisconsin Alliance will argue that Wisconsin law allows mobile voting, and that the governing law was amended specifically to allow cities to offer multiple in-person absentee voting locations. Hundreds of thousands of Wisconsin voters depend on in-person absentee voting to participate in the state’s elections.
If the court rules in favor of the Plaintiff, the number of in-person absentee voting locations in Racine and throughout Wisconsin could drop significantly, limiting access to the vote. The Wisconsin Alliance has 1,700 members in Racine and tens of thousands of members across the state whose voting rights are directly threatened by this case.
The potential loss of many in-person absentee voting locations will also exacerbate the damage done by the Wisconsin Supreme Court’s decision last year prohibiting the use of ballot drop boxes in the state.
“This lawsuit is nothing more than a blatant attempt to make it even more difficult for older voters in Wisconsin to cast a ballot,” said Marlene Ott, President of the Wisconsin Alliance for Retired Americans. “Older voters are among the groups most likely to use in-person absentee voting and should be able to do so in their communities. The members of the Wisconsin Alliance will fight any attempts to create unnecessary burdens that restrict our ability to exercise our Constitutional right to vote.”
“Wisconsin voters deserve to have free and fair access to the ballot which is achieved through innovative initiatives like mobile voting vehicles,” said Aneesa McMillan, Deputy Executive Director of Priorities USA. “We must continue to ensure that everyone has an opportunity to make their voices heard and we remain committed to fighting against right-wing attempts to silence marginalized communities. Priorities USA is proud to support the Wisconsin Alliance for Retired Americans’ critically necessary intervention.”
