The 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has blocked a decision to extend the deadline for counting absentee ballots in Wisconsin.
That means absentee ballots must be delivered to clerks by 8 p.m. on Election Day to be counted, and results of the presidential race could be known within hours of polls closing.
Democrats and their allies are likely to appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court.
If it stands, the latest court action, which blocked an a decision to extend the deadline for counting absentee ballots will actually make things easier at polling places.
“The court’s decision that got stayed would have changed things. So we’re back to status quo. Everybody’s already trained on what to do normally. So if it changes again, then we’ll look to communicating with them about what those changes are,” Reid Magney, public information officer with the Wisconsin Elections Commission said Thursday.
U.S. District Judge William Conley had ruled ballots which arrive by November 9 would be counted, as long as they’re postmarked by Election Day. Republicans appealed to a three-judge panel at the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, which upheld Conley’s ruling last week.
Republicans then asked the full 11 member court to review the case. The court stayed Conley’s decision on Thursday.