While the courts and Elections Commission are currently in stasis in Wisconsin over a massive voter purge dispute, Republicans are trying to force the issue.
The conservative Wisconsin Institute for Law and Liberty asked a judge Thursday to hold the state Elections Commission in contempt and charge its members $2,000 every day until it removes over 200,000 voters from the voting rolls, per the Associated Press. One member is not named in the filing, a Republican who was not on the board when the battle began.
The motion follows a judge’s order last month to immediately purge voters who did not respond to inquiries about a possible change of address. The commission has since become deadlocked along partisan lines as Republicans try to remove the voters immediately and Democrats, led by Attorney General Josh Kaul, wait on a decision from a state appeals court.
The Institute for Law and Liberty is also pushing for the Republican-majority state Supreme Court to take over the case even before the appeals court can issue a decision. That body has not yet decided whether to hear the case.
Meanwhile, the League of Women Voters filed a federal lawsuit to try to keep the voters on the rolls.
For context, Trump won Wisconsin and its 10 electoral votes by fewer than 23,000 votes in 2016. On top of that, the over 200,000 voters in question come largely from Democratic parts of the state.
