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In light of the WI Supreme Court hearing I am getting more questions about Madison’s Democracy in the Park event. So let me outline again why I believe that event was legal and recap the legal discussion about it before the election. The day before the event, 1/8
the attorney 4 Republican legislative leaders wrote a letter challenging its legality. I responded with a letter that disagreed and pointed out that he had not cited any law that would be violated. That was over a month before the election and we heard nothing more from him. 2/8
We received no further letters or objections & no lawsuit was filed by the Legislature, Republicans or the Trump campaign 2 challenge the legality. We figured everyone agreed it was legal because there was plenty of time 2 object 2 the second weekend of Democracy in the Park. 3/8
Then a lawsuit was filed to support the event and the Legislature’s attorney was invited to state its case in the lawsuit. The Legislature declined to intervene. It is disingenuous to argue that nobody had the opportunity to stop the event beforehand while arguing that 4/8
the ballots should have been segregated because the event was supposedly controversial. As I argued at the Dane County recount, this was a secure option for voters, especially given the concerns about the reliability of USPS in delivering ballots on time. The method of 5/8
delivering ballots back 2 the Clerk has absolutely no bearing on the validity of the ballot as long as it is in by Election Night. My friends and I could have sat in the parks everyday and collected ballots and delivered them to the Clerk and that would be legal under WI law. 6/8
This was a more secure means of collecting ballots that had already been mailed out to voters. And it had the added benefit of being safe during the pandemic. This morning a Trump-appointed federal Judge confirmed that Democracy in the Park was legal. Yesterday the 7/8
Circuit Court Judge did the same. If the WI Supreme Court applies the law as written, rather than what it may wish the law to be, it will agree with those rulings. And Democracy will be safe in our parks. Thanks for reading. 8/8
