The Daily Fuckup

Wisconsin Republicans filed suit on Dec. 6, 2024, asking a federal judge to settle a one-day clash between Wisconsin law and the federal Electoral Count Act schedule for when the state’s presidential electors must meet. The dispute is narrow but real: Wisconsin law calls for electors to meet on the first Monday after the second Wednesday in December, which fell on Dec. 16 in 2024, while federal law sets the meeting for the first Tuesday after the second Wednesday, which fell on Dec. 17. ([wispolitics.com](https://www.wispolitics.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/241208Suit.pdf?utm_source=openai))

The lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court in Madison, asks the court to declare the state timing rule unenforceable and to say the electors should meet on the federal date instead. The filing argues that if Wisconsin electors meet on the wrong day, their votes could be challenged. ([wispolitics.com](https://www.wispolitics.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/241208Suit.pdf?utm_source=openai))

The case is about the calendar, not the outcome of the election. Wisconsin’s 10 electoral votes were expected to go to President-elect Donald Trump, but the parties still wanted a court order before the meeting because the two timing rules do not match. That mismatch is unusual, and the lawsuit was aimed at removing any uncertainty before the electors cast their votes. ([wispolitics.com](https://www.wispolitics.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/241208Suit.pdf?utm_source=openai))

The timing dispute also lands in a state where presidential-elector fights carry extra baggage because of Wisconsin’s 2020 fake-elector history. But the 2024 case itself is a straightforward legal question: which statute controls when Wisconsin’s electors meet, the state rule or the federal one. The complaint says federal law governs, and the filing asks the court to make that clear before the Electoral College meeting. ([wispolitics.com](https://www.wispolitics.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/241208Suit.pdf?utm_source=openai))