“The Supreme Court, which is extremely hostile to democracy, [is] playing a game. [In] the old days, the Supreme Court had rules, voter intent rules. Whatever it takes to count ballots … that’s what ruled,” Palast told show hosts Michelle Witte and Bob Schlehuber on Wednesday.
“And now we have a court that’s going to get worse with [Associate Justice] Amy Coney Barrett, because I’ve listened to some of her speeches over the last few years, and she’s against the court’s interpreting laws by substance, but rather by procedure.”
“The substance is that you get to vote, and your vote gets to count. The procedure is … your ballot has to arrive on Election Day,” Palast added.
According to a report by the New York Times, the Supreme Court ruling is a victory for Republicans, since Wisconsin is a swing state. US President Donald Trump won the state by around 23,000 votes in 2016.
Following the decision, the Democratic Party of Wisconsin immediately spearheaded a voter-education project to notify voters that absentee ballots have to be received by 8 p.m. local time on November 3.
“We’re dialing up a huge voter education campaign,” Ben Wikler, the state party chairman, tweeted on October 26.
“It’s not that the federal government will be in charge. It’s that Trump will be in charge … In most state governments, including in virtually every swing state, the Republicans are in charge of the legislatures through massive gerrymandering, as in Wisconsin and Michigan,” Palast told Sputnik.
“It’s a pure political decision. It’s laying the ground for an electoral coup d'etat that’s having procedure and BS and maybe violence determining the election, and not the voters,” he added.
According to the Wisconsin Examiner, Wisconsin voters can request an absentee ballot through October 29. To be counted, the ballots must be received at election offices, not just postmarked, by Election Day.