Supreme Court rules Republican had no right to bring mobile voting lawsuit

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MADISON, Wis.  — The Wisconsin Supreme Court ruled Tuesday a Republican Party official lacked standing to bring a lawsuit challenging the use of a mobile voting van in 2022.

The lawsuit filed by Ken Brown, Racine County Republican Party chair, sought to ban the Wisconsin Election Commission from using mobile voting vans in any future election in Wisconsin. The Supreme Court did not address the legality of mobile voting sites in its ruling, meaning they could be used in future elections.

The Supreme Court instead looked if Brown had the standing to file the lawsuit. The Court said Brown was not “aggrieved” under state law and ruled 4-3 to dismiss the case, with four liberal justices in the majority and three conservative justices dissenting.

“Brown has failed to demonstrate that WEC’s decision caused him any such injury. As a result, Brown does not have standing, and his complaint must be dismissed,” the Supreme Court wrote. “Put differently, to be aggrieved by a decision, one must have suffered an injury to a legally recognized interest as a result of the decision.”

The ruling could make it more difficult to bring future lawsuits challenging election laws.

The City of Racine used a van where voters could cast absentee ballots in the two weeks prior to the 2022 primary election. Racine and the Democratic National Committee argued there was nothing in state law prohibiting the use of voting vans.

Racine city Clerk Tara McMenamin and the city wanted to make voting as accessible as possible in the 2022 election. Racine purchased its van with grant money from the Center for Tech and Civic Life, a nonprofit funded by Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg and his wife.

The van was used to facilitate early in-person voting during the two weeks prior to that 2022 election. It traveled for two weeks across the city, allowing voters to cast in-person absentee ballots in 21 different locations.

Brown argued the mobile voting van violated state law and its repeated use would increase the chances of voter fraud. He also said Racine used the van to bolster Democratic turnout.

McMenamin disputed those accusations, saying it shows a misunderstanding of the city’s voting wards, which traditionally skew Democratic.

Brown filed a complaint with the Wisconsin Election Commission prior to the 2022 election saying there was no probable cause shown to believe the law had been broken. Brown sued. A Racine County Circuit Court ruled in his favor that state election laws do not allow for the use of mobile voting sites.

Brown contended he was injured by Wisconsin Election Commission’s decision to allow the mobile van to operate but the Court ruled against him.

“But Brown does not allege that WEC’s decision personally affected him,” the Court wrote. “As a result, Brown fails at the first step of the standing inquiry — he does not show that he has personally suffered (or will suffer) an injury as a result of WEC’s decision.”