A group of voters rights groups has filed a federal lawsuit seeking to stop the state from cutting back on early voting.
Citizen Action of Wisconsin Executive Director Robert Kraig says a previous ruling by Judge James Peterson striking down early voting restrictions is already on file.
“If you have a legislature and a governor who decide to ignore, basically, and violate the rule of a judge, if they violate federal law by passing another law that has the same impact, one of the remedies is for the judge simply to block enforcement.”
He expects Peterson to simply enforce his previous ruling, and is hoping that Peterson takes up the case in January.
“Lawyers are very optimistic that this is a very strong case, that the legislature really has not tried to comply with the court decision striking down their previous restrictions.”
State Republicans, including Governor Walker, say they cut back on early voting because it’s not fair to give urban centers like Madison and Milwaukee more time to vote than more rural sections of Wisconsin.