Court blocks extension of Wisconsin absentee ballot deadline

By TODD RICHMOND Associated Press
MADISON, Wis. (AP) — A federal appeals court has blocked a decision to extend by six days the deadline for counting absentee ballots in Wisconsin. Democrats will almost certainly appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court. U.S. District Judge William Conley ruled last month that any ballots that arrive in clerks’ offices by Nov. 9 will be counted as long as they’re postmarked by Nov. 3. Previously ballots were due by 8 p.m. on Election Day. A three-judge panel of the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the extension on Sept. 30. Republicans then sought a ruling from the full 11-member court. The judges stayed Conley’s ruling on Thursday.