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Democrat Tony Evers, Wisconsin's governor-elect.
- Wisconsin officials are moving forward with holding the planned April 7 presidential primary election as reported cases of COVID-19 drastically increase in the state.
- Nine other states set to hold primary elections in March and April have now moved to postpone their elections until May or June, including Ohio, Georgia, and New York.
- On Friday, Gov. Tony Evers called on the Wisconsin state legislature to approve a plan to send every Wisconsin registered voter an absentee ballot and have the option of voting safely from home.
- But Republican leaders in Wisconsin's GOP-controlled state legislature immediately shot down the idea as nearly impossible to execute on such a short timeline.
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Wisconsin officials are moving forward with holding the planned April 7 presidential primary election as reported cases of COVID-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus, continue to mount in the state.
As of Monday morning, the Wisconsin Department of Health reported 1,157 confirmed cases and 19 deaths from COVID-19, a massive increase over the 32 cases that were reported in the state two weeks ago on March 15.
Nine other states set to hold primary elections in the rest of March and April, including Georgia, Louisiana, Puerto Rico, and the six mid-Atlantic states which planned to vote on the April 28 "Acela primary" day have now moved to postpone their elections until May or June.
But Wisconsin, which allocates 84 pledged delegates in the Democratic presidential primary and is holding numerous other down-ballot elections, is proceeding with its April 7 election, even as Gov. Tony Evers issued a "Safer at Home" order banning gatherings of more than 10 people through April 24.
In postponing or seeking to delay their primary elections, officials in other states are arguing that holding elections during a pandemic violates the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's guidelines, which advise against holding gatherings of 10 people or more and recommend that people stay 6 feet apart from one another - a difficult distance to maintain in a crowded polling place.
Officials have particularly raised concerns about the dangers going to vote poses to older Americans, who both turn out to vote and serve as volunteer poll workers in elections at much higher rates than the general population and are at especially high risk both to contracting and facing health complications from the novel coronavirus.
There are at least six localities and organizations suing Wisconsin over various aspects of its decision to go ahead with the April 7 primary. On Friday, a judge dismissed a suit from the city of Green Bay seeking to delay the primary over health concerns and an expected poll worker shortage, the Wisconsin State Journal reported on Friday.
Green Bay Mayor Eric Genrich told The New York Times that there was "no way" for the city to follow the terms of the Governor's order banning gatherings of more than 10 people and prohibiting non-essential travel "and at the same time administer an in-person election."
But neither Evers nor the Wisconsin legislature moved to delay the primary day along with other states. On Friday, as the situation worsened across the country, Evers called on the Wisconsin state legislature to approve a plan to send every Wisconsin registered voter an absentee ballot and have the option of voting safely from home.
Wyoming, Alaska, and Hawaii, the three states set to hold primaries and caucuses on Saturday, April 4, have largely canceled in-person voting and are holding their primaries almost entirely by mail over a number of days.
"The bottom line is that everyone should be able to participate in our democracy, period," Evers said. "I understand that Republican leaders in the legislature yesterday expressed their support for not delaying the upcoming election, but as elected officials, our top priority has to be everyone's safety."
But Republican leaders in Wisconsin's GOP-controlled state legislature immediately shot down the idea as nearly impossible to execute on such a short timeline, with Wisconsin House Speaker Robin Vos saying on Friday that Republicans are "united as a caucus in rejecting the governor's request to upend the April 7th election."
And Scott Fitzgerald, the majority leader of the Wisconsin State Senate, said that asking the state to produce, vet, and mail out ballots to over three million voters is "not logistically feasible" and blasted Evers for "lying directly to Wisconsinites about this even being remotely possible," adding, "acting like this is doable is a hoax."
While the legislature is declining to vote to send ballots to every voter, requests for absentee ballots and the rate at which voters are sending ballots in have already surged throughout the state. According to the Wisconsin Elections Commission, over 880,000 Wisconsinites had requested absentee ballots with over 250,000 returned by March 30.
Requests for ballots are notably high in Waukesha, Ozaukee, and Washington counties, a Republican stronghold in the greater Milwaukee area, according to Wisconsin Elections Commission data graphed by Decision Desk HQ's Brandon Finnigan.
The Commission has also approved enhanced measures to protect voters, including options for voters to fill out their ballots curbside or in drive-throughs without having to enter their polling locations.
They also advised poll workers over 65 to stay home and not work polling locations on election day, which could cause major logistical problems at some heavily-trafficked polling places.
And while the Commission is mailing out ballots at a much higher rate than previous years, administrator Megan Wolfe said Friday that Evers' plan to mail a ballot to every voter would be exceptionally difficult to accomplish by next Tuesday, the State Journal reported.
Other states with primaries scheduled in mid-March and early April ran into legal and logistical barriers when trying to cancel their elections last-minute. Ohio for example, found itself in an intensely chaotic situation in the lead-up to its scheduled March 17 primary.
After a judge denied the Republican secretary of state's last-minute request to postpone the primary on March 16, the state's top public health official ordered all the polling locations to close down pursuant to a public health emergency, effectively canceling the election and causing mass confusion among voters and poll workers alike. Since then, Ohio's legislature has officially moved the date of the presidential primary until June 2.
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My focus has been and will continue to be ensuring everyone has the opportunity to cast their ballot in the upcoming election. That's why today I am calling on the Legislature to act to send an absentee ballot to every registered voter in Wisconsin. pic.twitter.com/39rXpZVmfK
- Governor Tony Evers (@GovEvers) March 27, 2020wow, indeed pic.twitter.com/MG63WEh37f
- Brandon Finnigan (@B_M_Finnigan) March 30, 2020