Wisconsin Dems push for mail-in, online voting during 2020 elections

The Democratic National Committee and the Democratic Party of Wisconsin are filing an amended complaint to their lawsuit to expand mail-in and online voting in Wisconsin.

The party initially filed the complaint in the Western District of Wisconsin before the April 7 election. They sought to "integrate information learned from the election and to provide the court with additional facts to support expanded access to voting in response to the growing coronavirus threat," according to a statement from the parties on Thursday.

The amended complaint filed with the district this week integrates what they describe as new facts learned following the April 7 election:

- Over 142,000 absentee ballots that were postmarked by Election Day were only counted because the court granted an extended deadline for ballots to be received by county clerks;

- Thousands of Wisconsinites faced burdensome standards for casting a ballot while complying with social distancing orders;

- More then 4 dozen in-person voters and poll workers contracted COVID-19;

- Wisconsin spring election was regarded nationally as a voting rights and health tragedy.

The initial complaint, meanwhile, seeks to:

- Extend the electronic and by-mail registration to the Friday before each of the remaining 2020 elections;

- Suspend the requirement that copies of photo identification accompany absentee ballot requests and copies of proof of residency documents accompany voter registration requests and the absentee voter must have a witness certify their ballot, for the duration of the COVID-19 outbreak;

- Extend the current deadline requiring absentee mail-in ballots to be received by 8:00 p.m. on Election Day to being postmarked by Election Day and received by municipal clerks’ offices within 10 days of the election.

Wisconsin's April 7 election received criticism from many after thousands either did not get their absentee ballots in time, or their mailed ballots never got to clerks before the deadline.

This also comes after at least 50 people who voted in person or worked the polls during the election tested positive for the coroanvirus, according to the state DHS on Wednesday.