Wisconsin Supreme Court agrees to hear case on expanded voting hours during Election Day disruptions

The Wisconsin Supreme Court agreed to hear a challenge brought by the Democratic National Committee (DNC) that could determine if state judges can extend polling hours after election-day disruptions threaten voting access — a potentially significant ruling for future elections in the perennial battleground state. 

The court, however, declined to fast-track the case, meaning it won’t be resolved before the November midterms.

The court announced Monday that it would review Democratic National Committee v. Boehm, a case stemming from extraordinary wait-times at polling places in Whitewater, Wisconsin during the 2024 presidential election. 

The DNC is asking the justices to clarify whether Wisconsin courts can extend voting hours when election-day problems threaten voters’ constitutional right to vote.

The case could establish statewide rules governing what judges may do when equipment failures, severe weather, staffing problems or other disruptions keep eligible voters from casting ballots before Wisconsin’s normal 8 p.m. closing time.

But those rules won’t come in time for this year’s midterms. 

While the Supreme Court granted the DNC’s petition for review, it denied its request for expedited consideration and instead put the case on a standard briefing schedule. 

The dispute began on Election Day in November 2024, when the DNC sought emergency relief after voters at two Whitewater polling places faced delays. At the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater’s University Center, the DNC presented evidence that voters trying to register or update their registrations had faced waits of up to five hours, with hundreds of people reportedly waiting to register and vote.

A Walworth County judge ordered voting reopened at the University Center and Whitewater Armory until 10:30 p.m. 

The Republican National Committee intervened and appealed the order. The additional ballots ultimately didn’t change the outcome of any race or referendum.

In July, a Wisconsin appeals court reversed the extension. The majority held that state law establishes an 8 p.m. closing time and concluded that the circuit court lacked authority on the record before it to reopen the polling places for voters who arrived after that deadline. Wisconsin law allows anyone waiting in line at 8 p.m. to cast a ballot.

But the decision left open an important question about emergencies that interfere with the right to vote.

In a concurring opinion, Presiding Judge Lisa Neubauer agreed that the Whitewater order wasn’t adequately supported by the evidence presented, while stressing that statutory polling hours are “not immutable.”

“Extraordinary or emergency circumstances can support extension of polling hours,” Neubauer wrote, when enforcing the deadline would violate voters’ constitutional right to vote.

That distinction is now at the center of the case before the Supreme Court: not whether Wisconsin normally closes its polls at 8 p.m., but whether state judges can provide emergency relief when circumstances prevent eligible voters from exercising their rights.

The appeals court itself recognized that the question extends beyond the now-completed 2024 election, calling the authority to extend polling hours — and the circumstances permitting it — a matter of major public importance.

A ruling from Wisconsin’s highest court could therefore shape how election officials and judges respond the next time a polling place becomes inaccessible, technology breaks down or another serious disruption leaves voters unable to cast ballots before closing time.