The Wisconsin Supreme Court ruled Tuesday that a Republican Party official lacked standing to challenge the use of a mobile voting van in the city of Racine during the 2022 primary election, a decision that could make it more difficult for conservatives to contest election procedures in the future.

In a 4-3 ruling along ideological lines, the court’s Democratic majority determined that Ken Brown, chairman of the Racine County Republican Party, was not “aggrieved” under state law and therefore could not bring the lawsuit. The ruling did not address the legality of mobile voting sites, meaning such vans could be used in future elections in the key battleground state.

The lawsuit aimed to ban mobile voting vans, arguing they violate Wisconsin’s election laws by potentially favoring Democratic turnout. Wisconsin law prohibits early voting sites from giving an advantage to any political party and requires them to be located “as near as practicable” to the clerk’s office. The Racine van traveled to 21 locations over two weeks in 2022, allowing voters to cast absentee ballots. City officials argued it was an effort to make voting more accessible.

The van was purchased using grants from the Center for Tech and Civic Life, a nonprofit organization funded by Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg and his wife, which has been criticized by Republicans who call it a Democratic funding tool. Wisconsin voters passed a constitutional amendment last year banning private election funding.

The state’s high court ruling overturned a previous decision by a Racine County Circuit Court judge who had sided with Republicans, ruling that state law does not allow for mobile voting sites.

Charlie Hoffman, an attorney at Cramer Multhauff LLP and former clerk for Wisconsin Justice Rebecca Grassl Bradley, criticized the decision, telling the Washington Examiner that the ruling “effectively closes the courthouse doors to conservative voters” concerned about election integrity. He accused the liberal majority of granting municipal clerks “carte blanche” to override election laws.

The conservative Young America’s Foundation President Scott Walker, a former Wisconsin governor, called the ruling “just the tip of the iceberg” for the “4-3 activist court.”

The ruling comes as Wisconsin gears up for a crucial state Supreme Court election on April 1, which could shift the court’s ideological balance. Republican candidate Brad Schimel, a former state attorney general, is running against Democratic Dane County Judge Susan Crawford to replace retiring Democratic Justice Ann Walsh Bradley. With the court’s 4-3 liberal majority at stake, the race has drawn significant outside spending.

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A political group backed by Elon Musk, Building America’s Future, has purchased over $670,000 in TV ads supporting Schimel. Musk, now working with the Trump administration on the Department of Government Efficiency project to cut back on government waste, recently posted on X urging voters to back the Republican candidate to “prevent voting fraud.”

The election’s outcome will determine the court’s direction for the next decade, with conservative justices facing elections in 2026 and 2027. The race also follows liberals’ costly victory in flipping a seat on the court in 2023.