No delay in Wisconsin election

High court rules governor didn’t have authority to postpone

MADISON, Wis. — Voters in Wisconsin are likely to face a choice Tuesday between participating in a presidential primary election and heeding warnings from public health officials to stay away from large crowds during the coronavirus pandemic.

Hours after Democratic Gov. Tony Evers issued an executive order Monday postponing the election for two months, the Wisconsin Supreme Court sided with Republicans who said he didn’t have the authority to reschedule the race on his own.

The decision leaves Wisconsin as the only state with an election scheduled in April that is proceeding as planned. As other states prepare to vote in May or June, Wisconsin will be closely watched for signs that fears of the coronavirus may depress turnout or cause other problems at the polls.

Evers said he had no other options after the court ruled against him.

“There’s not a Plan B. There’s not a Plan C,” Evers said earlier Monday.

The court ruled 4-2, with four conservatives in support and two liberals against, that Evers lacked the authority to move the election on his own. Separately, the U.S. Supreme Court threw out a lower court’s order that would have extended absentee voting to April 13.

Joe Biden already has a commanding delegate lead over Bernie Sanders, and the Wisconsin results aren’t likely to slow his march to the Democratic

presidential nomination.

The tension in Wisconsin over whether and how to proceed with the election has been building for weeks. Evers and Republicans initially agreed it was imperative for the election to proceed because thousands of local offices are on the ballot Tuesday for terms that begin in two weeks. There is also a state Supreme Court election.

Evers himself had questioned whether he had the power to reschedule the election but said the worsening situation, including an increase in COVID-19 deaths from 56 on Friday to 77 on Monday, made clear there was no way to safely move forward. Evers said he sought the delay because he was motivated by protecting public health, not politics.