Wisconsin Supreme Court upholds Biden’s win, rejects Trump lawsuit

upheld Democrat Joe Biden’s Wisconsin win Monday, handing President Donald Trump a defeat less than an hour before the Electoral College was to meet.

The 4-3 ruling was the latest in a string of dozens of losses for the president across the country as Republicans pursue last-gasp efforts to give Trump a second term. 

In the majority, conservative Justice Brian Hagedorn joined the court’s three liberals to confirm Biden’s win. They found one of Trump’s arguments was without merit and the others were brought far too late. 

Trump’s challenges to Wisconsin’s voting laws “come long after the last play or even the last game; the (Trump) Campaign is challenging the rulebook adopted before the season began,” Hagedorn wrote. 

The three other conservatives on the court dissented, writing they believed clerks violated the law with some election practices.

“The majority does not bother addressing what the boards of canvassers did or should have done, and instead, four members of this court throw the cloak of (timing) over numerous problems that will be repeated again and again, until this court has the courage to correct them,” Chief Justice Patience Roggensack wrote for the dissenters.

the justices rejected it on a 4-3 vote early this month, telling him state law required him to start in a lower court.

Trump brought a new lawsuit and Reserve Judge Stephen Simanek ruled against him Friday. Trump appealed, the state Supreme Court held arguments Saturday and ruled against him Monday, allowing the state’s 10 Electoral College votes to go to Biden.

The Wisconsin voting system Donald Trump is attacking was built by Republicans

Trump targets 220,000 votes

Trump sought to throw out more than 220,000 ballots cast in Milwaukee and Dane counties, the state’s most populous and most Democratic areas. He wanted to let stand ballots that were cast the same way in the state’s 70 other counties. 

During Saturday’s arguments, Karofsky said the approach “smacks of racism” because Trump targeted the most diverse parts of the state. Trump attorney Jim Troupis denied that, saying Trump had limited his recount to the two counties to save money. 

Troupis challenged several election practices, some of them long-standing. 

He contended clerks had broken the law by filling in the addresses of witnesses on absentee ballot envelopes. With the support of Republicans, the state Elections Commission four years ago told clerks they could do that if they were able to confirm the addresses.

Here are the 4 voting issues at the heart of Trump’s Wisconsin election lawsuitmaintained that his own ballot should be thrown out because he had filled out only one form, as directed by his clerk. 

Troupis was also seeking to toss the votes of the state Republican Party’s executive director, members of the Milwaukee County Republican Party’s board, Republican state Sen. Alberta Darling of River Hills and Republican Rep. Jessie Rodriguez of Oak Creek.

State law requires voters to apply for absentee ballots, including ones cast in person, in writing. They must also fill out a form certifying they filled out the ballots submitted in their name. 

State election officials more than a decade ago created a single form that fulfills both requirements. It is printed on the back of ballot envelopes and is widely used. But Troupis argued the form was invalid and that separate documents were needed.

that ruling — from a case brought this spring by the state Republican Party — the court found it was up to voters themselves to determine whether they are indefinitely confined. 

That decision did not give Trump a way to throw out large numbers of ballots based on the theory that some people may have violated the indefinite confinement rules.

Hagedorn center stage again

The ruling in the Trump case again put a spotlight on Hagedorn, who has cheered Democrats and frustrated Republicans by sometimes siding with the court’s liberals. 

declining to quickly take a case regarding the state’s voter rolls and refusing to allow the Green Party’s presidential ticket on the ballot this fall.

He also parted with conservatives by supporting Democratic Gov. Tony Evers’ plan to fight the coronavirus pandemic this spring with a stay-at-home order. In that case, the other Republican-backed justices were able to strike down the order because they had a larger majority then.

The most pointed criticism during Saturday’s arguments came from Karofsky, who won a seat on the high court this year. In an interview before her election, she expressed frustration with Trump, saying there were so many reasons she opposed him she didn’t know where to start.

Other setbacks for Trump

Monday’s ruling was the eighth one against Trump in 12 days in seven cases that challenged the results in Wisconsin. The state Supreme Court ruled against him four times and the U.S. Supreme Court, Simanek and two federal judges in Milwaukee each ruled against him once. 

Trump and his backers have appealed the rulings from the federal judges in Milwaukee, but their chances appear bleak because of the U.S. Supreme Court’s recent ruling and the fast-approaching Electoral College meeting. 

Some Republicans are considering challenging the results of the election when Congress counts the electoral votes on Jan. 6. Pulling off such an effort would be unprecedented. 

Contact Patrick Marley at patrick.marley@jrn.com. Follow him on Twitter at @patrickdmarley.

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