Wisconsin Election Back On For Tuesday In The Middle Of Coronavirus Pandemic

Wisconsin will hold its primary election on Tuesday after all.

The states high court blocked an emergency order from Gov. Tony Evers (D) that called for a postponement of in-person voting until June a win for Republicans in the state who have fought any Election Day changes to account for the coronavirus pandemic.

The 4-2 decision, with conservative justices in favor and liberal justices dissenting, came 14 hours before polls are set to open in Wisconsin. An hour later, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that all absentee ballots had to be postmarked by April 7 and received by April 13 to be counted accepting yet another Republican appeal to restrict mail-in voting.

That vote, too, was along ideological lines. As of Monday, the Wisconsin Election Commission reported that 43% of requested absentee ballots had not been returned. Those who do not receive a ballot by Tuesday will have to vote in person.

The Supreme Court of the United States legislated from the bench today, following Trump teams orders and writing a new election law to disenfranchise untold thousands of Wisconsin voters and consign an unknown number of Wisconsinites to their deaths, Ben Wikler, the chair of the Democratic Party of Wisconsin, said Monday night in a statement.

My official statement: \"The Supreme Court of the United States legislated from the bench today, following Trump team's orders and writing a new election law to disenfranchise untold thousands of Wisconsin voters and consign an unknown number of Wisconsinites to their deaths.\"

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My official statement: "The Supreme Court of the United States legislated from the bench today, following Trump team's orders and writing a new election law to disenfranchise untold thousands of Wisconsin voters and consign an unknown number of Wisconsinites to their deaths."
Ben Wikler (@benwikler) April 7, 2020

Evers tried to unilaterally change the elections date to June 9 in an order unveiled Monday afternoon. The order stood on uneasy legal grounds, as Wisconsins primary election date is set by state statute. Last week, even Evers, seemingly resigned to the April 7 election, said his hands were tied.

Republicans hellbent on keeping Election Day plans intact appealed Evers order immediately.

Defying numerous state-election statutes and his countless previous statements that he clearly lacks legal authority to cancel tomorrows election, the Governor announced moments ago at the eleventh hour that he was doing just that, Republicans petition to the high court said.

Wisconsin had reported more than 2,300 cases of the coronavirus and more than 70 related deaths as of Monday afternoon the number of cases more than doubled in the last week. Evers imposed a stay-at-home order on March 25, shuttering all nonessential businesses and forbidding people who dont live in the same household from gathering.

The Republican-majority state Legislature has refused to change the election to mail-in ballots only, as Evers repeatedly proposed. The governor, in a last-minute plea to state lawmakers, called for a special session of the Legislature on Saturday, but Republicans gaveled out in mere seconds.