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Law360 (March 18, 2020, 11:20 PM EDT ) The Democratic National Committee and Wisconsin's state party sued the state's election commissioners in federal court Wednesday, demanding that the deadlines to request and return electronic and by-mail ballots be extended for the April Presidential primary in response to the global coronavirus pandemic.
As the number of reported coronavirus cases rises, voters will either have to remain in their homes during the April 7 primary election or risk infecting themselves or others with the potentially deadly virus, Democratic officials said in the suit.
"Given these extraordinary circumstances, it is not surprising that Wisconsinites — faced with this unconscionable choice between their safety and potentially endangering the lives of others and exercising their fundamental right to vote — are relying on absentee voting at an unprecedented level," the Democrats said Wednesday.
For this reason, they argue, the deadline to request an absentee ballot should be extended from Wednesday, the current deadline, through April 3, which is the deadline for in-person registration.
Additionally, they said, the commission should do away with a requirement that all absentee ballots be received on elections day. Instead, the window for returning a ballot should be within 10 days after the election, so long as the ballots are postmarked on or before election day, the officials said.
DNC Chair Tom Perez said in a release that vote-by-mail options should be made available to all registered voters in the coming primaries.
"In order to ensure the voices of voters are heard, the DNC is urging the remaining primary states to use a variety of other critical mechanisms that will make voting easier and safer for voters and election officials alike," Perez said in the statement.
On Tuesday, Ohio canceled its primary election as coronavirus cases in the state continued to rise. The state's Democratic party asked the state's high court to push forward the rescheduled date from June 2 to April 28.
Florida voters asked a federal court to force the state government to extend its vote-by-mail period for Tuesday's Democratic primary to accommodate those who were impacted by or face a health risk because of the coronavirus pandemic.
The voters argued Monday that for the elderly and immunocompromised to vote, they will have to leave the safety of their homes and head to public polling places, potentially exposing them to the virus, which would put them at a significant risk of bodily injury or death. They also note that many college students have been forced to leave the counties in which they are registered to vote after their dorms were closed as a result of the virus.
Additionally, poll workers are dropping out as a result of the virus, and the state has moved or closed 112 polling locations in 22 counties, the voters said.
The virus threatens to "cause large-scale voter disenfranchisement falling hardest on communities of color and other historically vulnerable populations," the voters said.
That primary was held as scheduled.
The World Health Organization — which last week declared COVID-19 a global pandemic — has documented more than 184,000 cases of infection worldwide, with more than 7,500 deaths since it emerged in Wuhan, China, late last year.
The plaintiffs in the Wisconsin suit are represented by Marc E. Elias, John Devaney, Bruce V. Spiva, Amanda R. Callais and Zachary Newkirk of Perkins Coie LLP.
Counsel information for the defendants in that case is not yet known.
The plaintiffs in the Ohio case are represented by Donald J. McTigue, J. Corey Colombo, Derek Clinger and Ben F.C. Wallace of McTigue & Colombo LLC.
Counsel information for the defendants in that case is not yet known.
The cases are Democratic National Committee et al. v. Bostelmann et al., case number 3:20-cv-00249, in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Wisconsin, and The Ohio Democratic Party et al. v. LaRose, case number 2020-0388, in the Supreme Court of Ohio.
--Editing by Jay Jackson Jr.
For a reprint of this article, please contact reprints@law360.com.
