Wisconsin holds pandemic primary

Voters donned masks and tried to abide by social distancing as they headed to the polls in Wisconsin on Tuesday. The Wisconsin Supreme Court on Monday overturned Gov. Tony Evers’ order that would have delayed Tuesday’s election because of the threat of the coronavirus. Evers issued the order late Monday to postpone the vote until June 9, saying the increasing number of COVID-19 deaths in the state compelled him to take action: “The people of Wisconsin … they’re saying they’re scared. They’re scared of going to the polls. They’re scared for their future. At the end of the day, someone has to stand up for those folks.”

Why didn’t Wisconsin delay the vote? Until Monday, Evers, a Democrat, questioned whether he had the power to stop the election. He hoped the Republican-controlled state legislature would vote to delay it. But Republicans resisted, noting that in addition to the Democratic presidential primary race, many of the contests on the ballot were for local offices with terms beginning on April 20. The state’s highest court, with its conservative majority, ruled 4-2 that Evers did not have the authority to postpone the election. One of the conservative justices recused himself from the case because he is up for reelection on Tuesday.

Dig deeper: Read my report in The Sift about Ohio’s last-minute decision to postpone it’s primary election a few weeks ago.