Conservatives want Wisconsin Supreme Court to rule on blocking voter purge

A conservative group has asked Wisconsin’s Supreme Court to overturn a ruling from a state appeals court blocking the removal of more than 200,000 voters from state voter rolls.

The Wisconsin Institute for Law and Liberty, a conservative law firm, told The Associated Press on Tuesday that no reason was given by the state appeals court for the ruling blocking the voter purge, and said that it should be up to the state Supreme Court to consider the matter.

“The Court of Appeals is required to provide some explanation when issuing a stay,” said the organization’s president, Rick Esenberg.

“To date, the Court of Appeals has provided nothing. Whatever reasoning may follow, we’re asking the Supreme Court to consider whether a stay is warranted at all,” he told the AP.

The court previously declined a request from the same group to immediately hear the case earlier this month, with three conservative justices writing that the court “denies justice to the people of Wisconsin who deserve a prompt resolution of a dispute that affects important statewide and national elections this year” in a dissenting opinion following a 3-3 deadlock vote on whether to hear the case.

Wisconsin’s Supreme Court is controlled by conservative justices, but one justice, Dan Kelly, has recused himself due to his bid for reelection in November. One conservative justice sided with liberals on the court earlier this month in denying to immediately hear the case, the AP reported at the time.

If the Supreme Court chooses to take up the case, it still appears unlikely that the case will be resolved before November’s presidential election.