Court blocks Wisconsin absentee ballot extension

A federal appeals court on Thursday blocked a decision to extend the deadline for counting absentee ballots by six days in battleground Wisconsin, in a win for Republicans who have fought attempts to expand voting across the United States. If the ruling stands, absentee ballots will have to be delivered to Wisconsin election clerks by the time polls close on Election Day if they are to be counted. The ruling makes it more likely that the results of the presidential race in the pivotal swing state will be known within hours of polls closing. Democrats almost certainly will appeal the decision to the US Supreme Court. Under state law, absentee ballots are due in local clerks’ offices by 20:00 local time (01:00 GMT) on election night. But Democrats and allied groups sued to extend the deadline after the April presidential primary saw long lines, fewer polling places, a shortage of poll workers and thousands of ballots mailed days after the election. Wisconsin, like much of the rest of the country, is already seeing massive absentee voting for November and the state expects as many as two million people to vote absentee. style="width: 100%; height: 100%; position: absolute; top: 0; bottom: 0; right: 0; left: 0;">