Mitt Romney’s campaign has sued Wisconsin, asking a federal judge for an injunction to extend the deadline for absentee ballots for military personnel and civilians overseas by five days. The Romney campaign alleges Wisconsin election officials were late in sending out absentee ballots to civilians and military voters stationed overseas.
According to the Green Bay Press Gazette, there are about 6,120 military and overseas voters in Wisconsin.
A spokesman for the Wisconsin Government Accountability Board told the Gazette “27 municipalities missed the deadline for various reasons to send ballots to a total of 44 military and overseas voters” and “all 44 ballots were sent to the affected voters within five days of the missed deadline.”
By federal law, absentee ballots must be sent to military and overseas voters by September 22 and those ballots must be returned by November 9.
The lawsuit alleges Wisconsin “failed to ensure that absentee ballots were sent to military and overseas voters who validly requested them” and without the injunction, “it is unlikely that state officials will receive those individuals’ completed absentee ballots in time to be counted” in time.
Obama has a 2.3 point lead in the RCP average of polls in a state he won by nearly 14 points in 2008, and the momentum in the state is on Romney’s side.