Republicans don't want Bucks, Brewers at early voting sites
MADISON, Wis. (AP) — The chairman of the Wisconsin Republican Party warned Milwaukee's chief elections official that it would be illegal for any Milwaukee Bucks or Brewers players or mascots, including the Brewers' famous racing sausages, to participate in early voting events planned at their stadiums in the days leading up to the election.
Also on Wednesday, five voters in Madison asked a judge to declare that a city-organized event to collect absentee ballots was legal, even though an attorney for Republican legislative leaders said it was not. The city collected more than 10,000 absentee ballots last weekend and planned to hold another day-long event on Saturday.
Milwaukee and Madison are liberal strongholds in the swing state. Strong Democratic turnout in those cities is key to the strategy of Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden. President Donald Trump's campaign would benefit from suppressed turnout there.
Republicans in Wisconsin and around the country have been aggressively challenging what they see as any attempt to expand voting opportunities beyond what the law allows. Democrats accuse Republicans of trying to confuse voters and make it more difficult for Democrats to cast ballots.
The Republican National Committee and Wisconsin Republicans on Wednesday were fighting a federal court ruling that will allow absentee ballots postmarked by Election Day to be counted for up to six days afterward. Less than two hours after asking a federal appeals court to suspend its ruling allowing the six-day window, the court denied the Republicans' request.