A new legal salvo out of Dane County is taking direct aim at Wisconsin’s 1897 ban on fusion voting, arguing the 19th century law illegally sidelines minor parties and the voters who back them.
In an April 10 brief, attorneys asked a judge to strike down the 127-year-old statute and clear the way for minor parties to cross-endorse major-party candidates on separate ballot lines. The motion builds on a lawsuit United Wisconsin first filed last year and, if successful, could reshape tight state and federal races where a few percentage points routinely decide winners.
The filing, submitted as a motion for summary judgment in Dane County Circuit Court, comes from voting-rights group Law Forward, which represents United Wisconsin and several named plaintiffs. United Wisconsin, a cross-partisan coalition led by former state Senate Majority Leader Dale Schultz and others, has outlined the lawsuit and its goals on its website. The plaintiffs want the court to declare the fusion ban unconstitutional and to order relief that would allow cross-endorsements without waiting for new legislation from the Capitol…