Wisconsin Moves Ahead with Election Today Putting Residents in a Tough Spot
Tuesday, April 7th, 2020 -- 9:35 AM
(AP) -Wisconsin is asking hundreds of thousands of voters to ignore a stay-at-home order in the midst of a pandemic to participate in Tuesday’s presidential primary election, becoming a test case for dozens of states struggling to balance public health concerns with a core pillar of democracy.The National Guard will help run voting sites across the state after thousands of election workers stepped down fearing for their safety. Dozens of polling places will be closed, but those that are active are open until 8pm. Results were not expected to be released election night. In the wake of a legal battle over whether to conduct the election as scheduled, a court ruling appeared to prevent results from being made public earlier than April 13. The Election Day chaos that loomed over Wisconsin underscored the lengths to which the coronavirus outbreak has upended politics. The winners of Tuesday's contest may be less significant than Wisconsin's decision to allow voting at all. Its ability to host an election under the lash of a growing pandemic could have significant implications for upcoming primaries and even the fall general election.
"This is a warning sign for November and a problem that states need to take all steps to avoid," said Wendy Weiser, director of the Brennan Center for Justice's democracy program. "Americans should not have to choose between their health and their right to vote." Democrats in and out of Wisconsin screamed for the low-profile contest to be postponed, yet Republicans, and the conservative-majority state Supreme Court, would not give in. The partisan split was colored by a state Supreme Court election in which a lower turnout was thought to benefit the conservative candidate. While the President's health advisers encouraged all Americans to stay home, Wisconsin Republican Party Chairman Andrew Hitt downplayed the health concerns, even with the state’s nearly 2,500 coronavirus infections and 77 related deaths as of Monday afternoon.
In a statement regarding the Supreme Court’s decision, Governor Evers issued the following yesterday evening: “There are few things we hold more sacred and that are more American than the right to vote. People have bled, fought, and died for the right to vote in this country. But tomorrow in Wisconsin, thousands will wake up and have to choose between exercising their right to vote and staying healthy and safe. In this time of historic crisis, it is a shame that two branches of government in this state chose to pass the buck instead of taking responsibility for the health and safety of the people we were elected to serve.”
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