Wisconsin: Latest Casualty in Political Maneuvering

Today, Wisconsin residents who want to vote will have to brave a global pandemic and interact with voting machines that have been handled by hundreds, if not thousands, of potential coronavirus carriers. Instead of common-sense measures, like postponing the vote, extending the deadline for absentee ballot voting, or even moving to online voting, Wisconsin’s population will have to choose between having a say in who governs them or staying safe from the coronavirus.

Michigan’s population will have to choose between having a say in who governs them or staying safe from the coronavirus.

On Monday, Wisconsin was set to follow the lead of several states and move its election back to June per order from the governor. However, the conservative majority on the Wisconsin Supreme Court overturned that decision on Monday, followed by a decision by the conservative majority on the US Supreme Court that blocked a court order that would extend the absentee ballot deadline. It was a shocking example of political indifference to the lives of Wisconsin citizens and flies in the face of social distancing guidelines.

Why is the GOP so anxious to get the vote in on Tuesday? It seems that it is easier for them to win when people either can’t or are too afraid to vote. The two counties in Wisconsin that are hit hardest by the coronavirus voted for the Democratic governor in 2018. Meanwhile, there is a hotly contested election for a Wisconsin Supreme Court seat between the Republican-backed incumbent and the Democratic-backed challenger. The outcome of the race is significant: the GOP is desperate to preserve its 5–2 majority on a Supreme Court in a vital battleground state, and a Democratic victory would cut into its power.

This will almost certainly result in deaths, especially considering that older people who are more at risk for the coronavirus are more likely to vote.We know that there is a risk: when the Florida primary went ahead (at the urging of Joe Biden, lest you think that this practice is a Republican phenomenon), at least two primary workers contracted the coronavirus. At the same time, Arizona and Illinois’s primaries provide clear examples of how the coronavirus suppressed vote, as locations in these states shut down and were moved due to lack of cleaning supplies and other factors.

The coronavirus has brought a number of problems to light, and it has been made crystal clear just how little many politicians in both parties care about their constituents. It is absolutely unforgivable, although not surprising, that our current political parties would be willing to sacrifice human life so that they could retain power. This is not just the case in Wisconsin: it is clear from Trump’s change of tone over the past month and a half that he was willing to sacrifice a certain number of people before it became politically expedient to take action, and the current administration has to shoulder a great deal of the blame for the deaths from sheer unpreparedness and unwillingness to act because it would hurt their election chances. Likewise, every person who contributed to the mess in Wisconsin, from the pawns on the state Supreme Court to the partisans on the US Supreme Court, will have blood on their hands when residents start dying for the crime of wanting to have a say in their government. Americans must hold every single one of these men and women accountable: nobody should risk their lives just to vote.

Update 4/15/2020

Jill Karofsky, the liberal challenger to the GOP-backed incumbent judge on the Wisconsin Supreme Court won the election, turning the Republican’s strategy of voter suppression on its head.