Did the Spring Election Cause a Spike in Coronavirus Cases in Wisconsin?

After the Wisconsin Supreme Court vetoed Gov. Tony Evers executive order to postpone the spring election in April, health experts feared in-person voting would further spread the novel coronavirus.

Now more than a month after the historic election, the Wisconsin Department of Health Services said that as of late April, 55 people who tested positive for COVID-19 either voted or worked at the polls for the April 7 election.

It’s impossible to determine whether these people were infected at the polls or if they contracted the virus somewhere else.

Thousands of voters headed to the polls in April, ignoring social distancing guidelines. Some Democrats argued that the court’s decision to hold an election during a pandemic was voter suppression.

“It was voter suppression on steroids,” said Democratic National Committee Chair Tom Perez. “People’s lives are put in jeopardy. That is not who we are. Whatever happened to Wisconsin nice? This is Wisconsin at its worst, under Republican leadership. The absentee ballot has to be received by Election Day. It’s impossible to submit an absentee ballot by Election Day when you haven’t even received the damn ballot.” 

Republicans said the low number of case linked to the election prove that the election was carried out responsibly.

“They sought to exploit a global pandemic to fit their narrative and failed,” said Mark Jefferson, executive director of the Wisconsin Republican Party.

Although the 55 confirmed cases linked to the spring election is a low number compared to the 10,611 confirmed cases in Wisconsin, many voters were angry because they did not receive their absentee ballots.

According to the Wisconsin Elections Commission, more than 143,000 absentee ballots that were reported sent were not returned. This could be because some voters simply did not choose to send in their absentee ballots, but more than 1,000 people in Milwaukee reported never receiving their absentee ballot, according to city officials.

The Milwaukee Election Commission has requested the United States Postal Service investigate what may have happened to 7,814 ballots mailed on March 22nd and 23rd.

Alderwoman Marina Dimitrijevic introduced the SafeVote program so Milwaukee voters can vote safely in this fall’s elections. Her bill would send an application for an absentee ballot and a pre-paid return envelope to all Milwaukee residents, Dimitrijevic said in a press release.

Voters would still need to provide photo identification.

The bill mirrors what the village of Whitefish Bay did for the April 7 election in response to the pandemic. The village mailed more than 10,000 absentee ballot applications to registered voters before the election. This drew a 60% turnout on April 7 compared to Milwaukee’s 32.1%.

The bill has not yet been approved and would require Neil Albrecht, the executive director of the Milwaukee Election Commission, to create the SafeVote program within 30 days of the effective date of the resolution.

The 2020 fall primary is Aug. 11t and the 020 general election is on Nov. 3rd. President, U.S representative, even numbered Wisconsin State Senate seats, all Wisconsin Assembly seats and all District Attorneys will be on the ballot.