Extended early voting scheduled to begin next month in Madison is on for now under a ruling by an appeals court panel issued Monday. A three-judge panel of the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals denied a request by the Wisconsin Department of Justice to put on hold during appeal a ruling by U.S. District Judge James Peterson that overturned several Republican changes to Wisconsin voting law, including one that limited early voting to the weekdays two weeks before an election between 8 a.m. and 7 p.m. Peterson’s ruling also limited early voting to one location per municipality, upped residency requirements from 10 to 28 days and prohibited the use of expired student IDs for purposes of proving one’s identity. Peterson stayed a different part of his ruling dealing with how the state issues free voter IDs.
The same panel of judges recently blocked a different district judge’s ruling that allowed those without a valid photo ID to sign an affidavit on election day. That provision remains on hold, so the state’s voter ID requirement is still in place for election day as it was during the recent primary election.
Scot Ross, executive director of One Wisconsin Institute, which is challenging the election laws as Republican attempts to gain partisan advantage, noted the three appellate court judges — Frank Easterbrook, Michael Kanne and Diane Sykes — were all appointed by Republican presidents.
Full Article: Appeals court allows new early voting hours to remain in place for now | Politics and Elections | host.madison.com.