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DNC v. Wisconsin State Legislature Supreme Court Order
DNC v. Wisconsin State Legislature Supreme Court Order
DNC v. Wisconsin State Legislature Supreme Court Order
____ (2020) 1
No. 20A66
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No. 20A66
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No. 20A66
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I
For three alternative and independent reasons, I con-
clude that the District Court’s injunction was unwarranted.
First, the District Court changed Wisconsin’s election
rules too close to the election, in contravention of this
Court’s precedents. This Court has repeatedly emphasized
that federal courts ordinarily should not alter state election
laws in the period close to an election—a principle often re-
ferred to as the Purcell principle. See Purcell v. Gonzalez,
549 U. S. 1 (2006) (per curiam); see also Merrill v. People
First of Ala., ante, p. ___, (Merrill II); Andino v. Middleton,
ante, p. ___; Merrill v. People First of Ala., 591 U. S. ___
(2020) (Merrill I); Clarno v. People Not Politicians, 591 U. S.
___ (2020); Little v. Reclaim Idaho, 591 U. S. ___ (2020); Re-
publican National Committee v. Democratic National Com-
mittee, 589 U. S. ___ (2020) (per curiam) (RNC).
The Court’s precedents recognize a basic tenet of election
law: When an election is close at hand, the rules of the road
should be clear and settled. That is because running a
statewide election is a complicated endeavor. Lawmakers
initially must make a host of difficult decisions about how
best to structure and conduct the election. Then, thousands
of state and local officials and volunteers must participate
in a massive coordinated effort to implement the lawmak-
ers’ policy choices on the ground before and during the elec-
tion, and again in counting the votes afterwards. And at
every step, state and local officials must communicate to
voters how, when, and where they may cast their ballots
through in-person voting on election day, absentee voting,
or early voting.
Even seemingly innocuous late-in-the-day judicial alter-
ations to state election laws can interfere with administra-
tion of an election and cause unanticipated consequences.
If a court alters election laws near an election, election ad-
ministrators must first understand the court’s injunction,
Cite as: 592 U. S. ____ (2020) 3
consin’s legislature has not done so, unlike the South Caro-
lina legislature in Andino, for example. But the Wisconsin
State Legislature’s decision not to modify its election rules
in light of the pandemic is itself a policy judgment worthy
of the same judicial deference that this Court afforded the
South Carolina legislature in Andino, ante, p. ___. In short,
state legislatures, not federal courts, primarily decide
whether and how to adjust election rules in light of the pan-
demic.
Third, the District Court did not sufficiently appreciate
the significance of election deadlines. This Court has long
recognized that a State’s reasonable deadlines for register-
ing to vote, requesting absentee ballots, submitting absen-
tee ballots, and voting in person generally raise no federal
constitutional issues under the traditional Anderson-Bur-
dick balancing test. See Anderson v. Celebrezze, 460 U. S.
780 (1983); Burdick v. Takushi, 504 U. S. 428 (1992).
To state the obvious, a State cannot conduct an election
without deadlines. It follows that the right to vote is not
substantially burdened by a requirement that voters “act in
a timely fashion if they wish to express their views in the
voting booth.” Burdick, 504 U. S., at 438. For the same
reason, the right to vote is not substantially burdened by a
requirement that voters act in a timely fashion if they wish
to cast an absentee ballot. Either way, voters need to vote
on time. A deadline is not unconstitutional merely because
of voters’ “own failure to take timely steps” to ensure their
franchise. Rosario v. Rockefeller, 410 U. S. 752, 758 (1973).
Voters who, for example, show up to vote at midnight after
the polls close on election night do not have a right to de-
mand that the State nonetheless count their votes. Voters
who submit their absentee ballots after the State’s deadline
similarly do not have a right to demand that the State count
their votes.
For important reasons, most States, including Wisconsin,
require absentee ballots to be received by election day, not
Cite as: 592 U. S. ____ (2020) 7
differs in some respects from a state court’s (or state agency’s) alteration
of state election laws. That said, under the U. S. Constitution, the state
courts do not have a blank check to rewrite state election laws for federal
elections. Article II expressly provides that the rules for Presidential
elections are established by the States “in such Manner as the Legisla-
ture thereof may direct.” §1, cl. 2 (emphasis added). The text of Article
II means that “the clearly expressed intent of the legislature must pre-
vail” and that a state court may not depart from the state election code
enacted by the legislature. Bush v. Gore, 531 U. S. 98, 120 (2000)
(Rehnquist, C. J., concurring); see Bush v. Palm Beach County Canvass-
ing Bd., 531 U. S. 70, 76–78 (2000) (per curiam); McPherson v. Blacker,
146 U. S. 1, 25 (1892). In a Presidential election, in other words, a state
court’s “significant departure from the legislative scheme for appointing
Presidential electors presents a federal constitutional question.” Bush v.
Gore, 531 U. S., at 113 (Rehnquist, C. J., concurring). As Chief Justice
Rehnquist explained in Bush v. Gore, the important federal judicial role
in reviewing state-court decisions about state law in a federal Presiden-
tial election “does not imply a disrespect for state courts but rather a
respect for the constitutionally prescribed role of state legislatures. To
attach definitive weight to the pronouncement of a state court, when the
very question at issue is whether the court has actually departed from
the statutory meaning, would be to abdicate our responsibility to enforce
the explicit requirements of Article II.” Id., at 115.
The dissent here questions why the federal courts would have a role in
that kind of case. Post, at 11, n. 6 (opinion of KAGAN, J.). The answer to
that question, as the unanimous Court stated in Bush v. Palm Beach
County Canvassing Bd., and as Chief Justice Rehnquist persuasively ex-
plained in Bush v. Gore, is that the text of the Constitution requires fed-
eral courts to ensure that state courts do not rewrite state election laws.
10 DEMOCRATIC NATIONAL COMMITTEE v. WISCONSIN
STATE LEGISLATURE
KAVANAUGH, J., concurring
the mail. It can then take another seven days for your bal-
lot to be returned by mail.” Wisconsin Elections Commis-
sion, Wisconsin Mails Voting Information to Registered
Voters (Sept. 3, 2020), http://elections.wi.gov/node/7077.
Perhaps most importantly, in early September, Wiscon-
sin decided to leave little to chance and mailed every regis-
tered voter in the State who had not already requested an
absentee ballot (2.6 million of Wisconsin’s registered voters)
an absentee ballot application, as well as information about
how to vote absentee. Ibid.
Returning an absentee ballot in Wisconsin is also easy.
To begin with, voters can return their completed absentee
ballots by mail. But absentee voters who do not want to
rely on the mail have several other options. Until election
day, voters may, for example, hand-deliver their absentee
ballots to the municipal clerk’s office or other designated
site, or they may place their absentee ballots in a secure
absentee ballot drop box. Some absentee ballot drop boxes
are located outdoors, either for drive-through or walk-up ac-
cess, and some are indoors at a location like a municipal
clerk’s office. Memorandum from M. Wolfe, Administrator
of the Wisconsin Elections Commission, et al. to All Wiscon-
sin Election Officials (Aug. 19, 2020) (online source ar-
chived at www.supremecourt.gov). The Wisconsin Elec-
tions Commission has made federal grant money available
to local municipalities to purchase additional absentee bal-
lot drop boxes to accommodate expanded absentee voting.
Alternatively, absentee voters may vote “in-person ab-
sentee” beginning two weeks before election day. Wis. Stat.
§6.86(1)(b). A Wisconsin voter who votes “in-person absen-
tee” fills out an absentee ballot in person at a municipal
clerk’s office or other designated location before election
day. Some municipalities have created drive-up absentee
voting sites to allow voters to vote “in-person absentee”
without leaving their cars. See, e.g., City of Madison Clerk’s
Office, In-Person Absentee Voting Hours and Locations
Cite as: 592 U. S. ____ (2020) 13
for voters who decide relatively late in the game that they
would prefer to avoid lines at the polls on election day.
The dissent’s October 29-based argument falls short for
another reason as well: The dissent’s approach would actu-
ally penalize Wisconsin for being too generous with its ab-
sentee voting regime. Under the dissent’s theory, if Wis-
consin had just set a more restrictive deadline for voters to
request absentee ballots—say, two weeks before election
day—there presumably would not be a constitutional prob-
lem with the State’s election-day deadline for receipt of ab-
sentee ballots. But it makes little sense to penalize Wiscon-
sin for accommodating voters and making it easier for them
to vote absentee and avoid lines on election day.
The dissent’s rhetoric of “disenfranchisement” is mis-
placed for still another reason. As the dissent uses that
term, the dissent’s own position would itself “disenfran-
chise” voters. What about voters who request an absentee
ballot after October 29? What about voters who mail their
ballots after November 3? What about voters who mail
their ballots by November 3 but whose ballots arrive after
November 9? Even if we reinstated the District Court’s or-
der as the dissent would have us do, those votes would not
count. The dissent’s position would itself therefore “disen-
franchise” some voters, at least as the dissent uses the
term. All of which simply shows that the dissent’s rhetoric
of disenfranchisement is mistaken.
The dissent responds that I am just disagreeing with the
facts found by the District Court. Not so. I do not disagree
with any of the relevant historical facts that the District
Court found and that the dissent highlights. The dissent,
for example, calls attention to the District Court’s finding
that nearly two million Wisconsin voters in this election are
likely to request mail ballots. I agree. Indeed, the Wiscon-
sin Elections Commission has already sent nearly that
number of absentee ballots to voters who have requested
16 DEMOCRATIC NATIONAL COMMITTEE v. WISCONSIN
STATE LEGISLATURE
KAVANAUGH, J., concurring
them. The dissent notes that the influx of ballots has im-
posed a serious burden on some local election offices. I
agree. The dissent points out that the District Court found
that ballots can sometimes take two weeks to be sent and
returned in light of Postal Service delays. I agree. The dis-
sent highlights that the pandemic has gotten worse, not
better, in Wisconsin over the last few weeks. I agree. And
the dissent notes that the in-person voting option can pose
a health risk to elderly and ill voters. I agree; I am fully
aware of and sensitive to that reality.
Contrary to the dissent’s attempt to characterize our dis-
agreement as factual, the facts in this case are largely un-
disputed. I have zero disagreement with the dissent on the
question of whether COVID–19 is a serious problem. It is.
Instead, I disagree with some of the District Court’s and the
dissent’s speculative predictions about how the voting pro-
cess might unfold with an election-day deadline for receipt
of absentee ballots. And I disagree with the District Court’s
and the dissent’s legal analysis of whether, given the
agreed-upon facts, the State has done enough to protect the
right to vote under the Constitution and this Court’s prece-
dents, given the necessity of having election deadlines.
In short, I agree with the dissent that COVID–19 is a se-
rious problem. But you need deadlines to hold elections—
there is just no wishing away or getting around that funda-
mental point. And Wisconsin’s deadline is the same as that
in 30 other States and is a reasonable deadline given all the
circumstances.
To be clear, in every election a voter who requests an ab-
sentee ballot, particularly a voter who waits until the last
moments to request an absentee ballot, might not receive a
ballot in time to mail it back in, or in some cases may not
receive a ballot until after election day. Or in some cases, a
voter may mail a completed ballot, but it may get delayed
Cite as: 592 U. S. ____ (2020) 17
No. 20A66
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1 See U. S. Election Assistance Commission, 2016 Election Administra-
sult if “absentee ballots flow in after election day and potentially flip the
results of an election.” Ante, at 7. But there are no results to “flip” until
all valid votes are counted. And nothing could be more “suspicio[us]” or
“improp[er]” than refusing to tally votes once the clock strikes 12 on elec-
tion night. To suggest otherwise, especially in these fractious times, is
to disserve the electoral process.
6 DEMOCRATIC NATIONAL COMMITTEE v. WISCONSIN
STATE LEGISLATURE
KAGAN, J., dissenting
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5 Note as well that nothing rides on the exactness of the district court’s
all similar deadlines in all other States. See ante, at 10. The district
court rested its constitutional judgment, as I would too, on a confluence
of factors: COVID conditions in Wisconsin, the scarce time between the
State’s ballot-application and ballot-receipt deadlines, evidence about in-
state mail delivery and the administrative capacity of state election of-
fices. See supra, at 2–3, 8–9. In another State with all the same facts,
the same result should obtain. But in another State with different
facts—say, a less intense outbreak of COVID, an earlier ballot-applica-
tion deadline, faster mail delivery, and better staffed and funded election
offices—the constitutional analysis should come out a different way.
7 At the same time that JUSTICE KAVANAUGH defends this stance by