Wisconsin appeals court election lines ruling could impact future

MILWAUKEE - The Wisconsin Appeals Court ruled against the Democratic National Committee and sided with the Republican National Committee in a case from 2024 that could impact future elections.

Election night wait

The backstory:

Wisconsin law says polls are open from 7 a.m. until 8 p.m. on election days, but any voter in line at closing time can still vote. An election worker is to stand at the end of the line when the clock strikes 8 p.m. People who get in line after 8 p.m. are not allowed to vote.

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On election night 2024, the Democratic National Committee filed requests to keep polls open at certain wards, including in three counties. It came as the White House and control of the U.S. House and U.S. Senate were on the line. The DNC said lines had been very long, with very long wait times.

In Dunn County and Winnebago County, judges rejected the DNC and would not re-open polls. However, Walworth County Judge David Reddy agreed with the DNC. He allowed two Whitewater polling places to stay open until 10:30 p.m., meaning people not in line could still get in line up to 10:30 p.m. That was at the Whitewater Armory and the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater University Center. Videos shared on social media at the time showed long lines at the university.

Judge's decision

What they're saying:

The DNC filing in 2024 included a declaration of a student who had been observing the university polling place since around 6 p.m. She said the lines were long, and that she was told some had to wait for five hours to update their voter registration.

"Within the past few hours, based on my conversations with volunteers, there have been 400–500 voters in line waiting to update their registrations and cast their ballots," she said in her declaration, according to the appeals court. She stated she was "particularly concerned because the University of Wisconsin–Whitewater has many disabled students, and waiting in line for up to five hours is very difficult given the limited opportunities to sit down while waiting."

In 2024, Judge Reddy said he was erring on the side of caution, according to the appeals court summary. He added that the polling locations had "significant delays due to inadequate staffing and insufficient numbers of BadgerBooks due to unprecedented turnout on November 5, 2024" and that "voters … who wanted to vote … gave up … because of the long lines."

Appeals court rules

What they're saying:

The Wisconsin Court of Appeals District II, in a 3-0 decision issued on July 29, 2026, said the judge was wrong, and there was no evidence presented that anyone was denied the right to vote or left the lines. The appeals court’s decision said Reddy gave voters at the two polling places more time than voters anywhere else in the state, and it did it at the request of the DNC, not a neutral party.

"A court’s order that disregards this clear, uniform law and affords select electors more time to cast ballots than other electors in the state directly undermines the integrity of the election and public confidence," stated the decision written by conservative Wisconsin Appeals Court Judge Mark Gundrum.

"It is axiomatic that the DNC sought the injunction here to extend the voting hours at the Armory and the University Center not for the neutral and noble goal of equally benefiting all electors in these voting areas, but for the partisan goal of allowing votes to still be cast by those electors it had pre-identified as favoring Democratic candidates," stated the decision.

It goes on: "…significant harm was done by the court’s decision to allow post 8:00 p.m. ballots to even be cast in the first place, due to the potential legal-political circus that would have been created had the presidential-election results in Wisconsin and the nation been closer in the November 2024 election."

What's next:

The appeals court says it is ruling because this issue could come up again.

"The uniform closing of polls across the state at 8:00 pm. on election night creates a unique opportunity for one party to position itself – with advanced preparation of arguments, statutory and case law support, polished briefing, affidavits and declarants – to file a twelfth-hour surprise action, such as this one, precluding any opportunity for an adverse party to present an equally well-prepared response."

Emergency situations

Dig deeper:

In a concurrence, one of the three judges, liberal Lisa Neubauer, stated an emergency could lead to a judge keeping polls open. She gave some examples, like a Madison polling place that closed after a bomb scare. A judge allowed that to stay open an extra hour.

She wrote: "…it is critical that we also clarify that, while the legislature is entrusted with setting the time, place, and manner of elections, the applicable polling hours statutes are not immutable: extraordinary or emergency circumstances can support extension of polling hours when these statutes are applied in violation of the electors’ constitutional right to vote."

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"We do not need to add fuel to the fire. The extension of voting hours at these two polling locations was inconsequential to the election in Wisconsin. There was no vote dilution or vote pollution. There was no legal-political circus or national to-do. The facts at issue provide no reason to see this case as one giving rise to alarm over the integrity of our elections. The proper avenue for a challenge was brought to this court, and we have provided an answer. There is no reason to present this case as yet another example of shady business that should make us wary of our electoral process," wrote Neubauer.

FOX6 News asked the DNC to respond to this ruling and is waiting for a reaction.

Portions of this article were formatted using A.I. FOX6’s Jason Calvi and an editor reviewed it for accuracy and tone prior to publishing.

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