UPDATE: Voters must vote today

CovElectn_TonyEvers_033017.jpg

Tony Evers

Updated 9:15 am April 7:

Voters must vote today, whether by absentee or in person, after court overturns suspension

Gov. Tony Evers’s order suspending in-person voting was overruled by the State Supreme Court, and a measure that would have extended in-person voting has been overruled by the U.S. Supreme Court.

The order means all voting must occur today, Tuesday. Absentee ballots already received must be post-marked by today, or turned in to a polling place. Or voters may vote at their respective voting places.

Many municipalities changed voting places – check with your municipality to make sure you know where to vote.


Updated 1 pm April 6:

Gov. Tony Evers issued an executive order Monday suspending in-person voting until June 9.

The governor’s order also calls on the legislature to meet in special session Tuesday to discuss the election date. If the legislature does not enact new legislation in that session, Evers’ original June 9 date will remain in effect.

“As municipalities are consolidating polling locations, and absent legislative or court action, I cannot in good conscience stand by and do nothing,” Evers wrote in a statement. “The bottom line is that I have an obligation to keep people safe and that’s why I signed this executive order today.”


More than a hundred local municipal officials have signed on to a petition calling on the Health Services Secretary Andrea Palm to suspend in-person voting.

Andrea Palm

Contributed

Andrea Palm

Andrea Palm

The petition includes dozens of county, city and school board officials from central Wisconsin, according to the list contained in the petition.

The move comes after Tony Evers on Friday called a special session of the legislature to be convened on Saturday afternoon to consider suspending voting in person and instead allowing more time for voters to obtain and send in ballots. The move was intended to prevent the spread of the Coronavirus and help out local clerks, many of whom are having trouble finding adequate numbers of poll workers. The Republican-controlled legislature convened Saturday and quickly adjourned without taking action.

As of Monday morning, there have been 2,267 positive cases of COVID-19 in Wisconsin, and 68 deaths, according to data from the Department of Health Services.

As it stands, the deadline to request ballots had been moved to last Friday, and ballots can now be accepted by municipal clerks through April 13. According to the Wisconsin Elections Commission, results are not to be released until canvassing happens on April 13, the Monday following the elections.

Local signators include Mayoral candidate Katie Rosenberg; county supervisors Ka Lo, Alyson Leahy, Yee Leng Xiong, Jeff Johnson and Jim Bove; Wausau city council members Pat Peckham and Mary Thao; Schofield council member Kristin Conway; and Village of Weston Trustee Nate Fiene; as well as Wausau School Board members Beth Martin, Jane Rusch and Jeff Leigh.

The petition will be sent to Palm later today, organizers tell City Pages.