Fight over Wisconsin mail vote deadline may head to Supreme Court

© Getty ImagesFight over Wisconsin mail vote deadline may head to Supreme Court

A federal appeals court on Wednesday rebuffed Wisconsin Republicans who had asked the court to temporarily halt a ruling that pushed back the battleground state's mail-vote due date, possibly teeing up a GOP bid for review by the U.S. Supreme Court.

The latest development in the fast-moving case comes a day after the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 7th Circuit upheld an extension of Wisconsin's mail ballot receipt deadline. Under current rules, mail ballots must be counted if they are postmarked by Election Day and arrive by Nov. 9.

The 7th Circuit's decision turned on the narrow issue of whether the state's GOP lawmakers and Republican Party members had the legal right to challenge the deadline extension, which the court said they lacked.

The Republican challengers said in a court filing that the case was likely to be addressed to the Supreme Court.

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