UPDATE: The Wisconsin Supreme Court has overturned Governor Evers' executive order and ordered the April 7th election to proceed.
MILWAUKEE - Chris Ott, the executive director of the ACLU of Wisconsin, issued the following statement regarding today’s decision to delay in-person voting in the April 7th election:
“Delaying in-person voting is the only responsible course of action given the urgent need to protect public health and combat the spread of COVID-19. The ACLU and several allied groups on March 18 called for a variety of measures to safeguard voters’ health, as well as to safeguard their right to vote. Since many of these measures have not been put into place, and since the number of polling places has been curtailed so drastically, postponing in-person voting is the safest and best course of action.
However, as this is a very fluid situation that will likely be resolved in the courts, we encourage those voting absentee to make every effort to return their absentee ballots by tomorrow to guarantee their vote is counted. We also ask those planning to vote in-person to check media reports on Tuesday, to confirm whether or not the Governor’s order to postpone still stands.
This of course is not Wisconsin’s only election this year. The level of chaos and confusion around this election is unacceptable and underscores the need for election officials to immediately develop an emergency response plan that safeguards the voting rights – and health – of all voters in Wisconsin. Any such plan must preserve the opportunity to in-person vote for those who need it, as well as expand access to vote by mail. As this crisis continues, our election officials need to get this right – and we’ll be watching to make sure they do.”
