Wisconsin’s pandemic election puts focus on state’s court
Associated PressMADISON, Wis. — Anyone needing proof of the power and significance of the Wisconsin Supreme Court can look no further than the lines of mask-wearing voters that stretched for hours in Milwaukee during an election held despite a stay-at-home order because of the coronavirus pandemic. Since conservatives have held a majority on the state Supreme Court, the Republican-dominated Legislature has been able to enact laws that enhanced the GOP’s position, including voter ID laws and limits on labor unions, despite legal challenges from Democrats. “There’s a widely held perception that the court is biased,” said Lester Pines, an attorney who has been practicing law in Wisconsin since 1975 and frequently represents Democrats, including Gov. “This is not something that should surprise anybody that a governor cannot unilaterally postpone an election,” Esenberg said of the court’s ruling. More recently, court rulings upheld the Legislature’s ability to meet in a lame duck session to undercut Evers’ powers as governor after he defeated incumbent Republican Scott Walker in 2018.