Wisconsin votes, and the partisan divide on voting and health becomes a chasm

Just a dozen days ago, making it safer and easier to vote during the coronavirus outbreak was a totally bipartisan cause. But once that sentiment faced its first practical test, in Wisconsin, polarized partisanship snapped back with extraordinary intensity — posing yet another threat to a fair 2020 election and Americans' confidence in the democratic process.

With long lines of socially distanced voters at a shrunken roster of short-staffed polling places on Wednesday, from sprawling Milwaukee to tiny Moquah, the parties delivered opposite messages to those confused and angry about why the primary was even happening and anxious about the medical risks of doing their civic duty.

Republicans — having kept the primary on track thanks to last-minute victories in a state Legislature, state Supreme Court and U.S. Supreme Court all with friendly conservative majorities — pressed their supporters to go to the polls in force.

Democrats — rebuffed in their efforts to postpone the in-person voting and extend the time for returning absentee ballots — told their supporters to stay safely at home and canceled all their get-out-the-vote plans, which were aimed at mobilizing turnout in urban areas.

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Confused by what's happening in Wisconsin? We have answers.

Within just a few days, Wisconsin has become the center of the coronavirus-election debate universe with a blur of back and forth by state officials and the courts.

The governor said Monday afternoon that in-person primary voting was off. House later, the state Supreme Court said it was on, and in fact polls opened Tuesday morning.

Last Thursday a federal judge said that, with or without polling stations to visit, voters could complete absentee ballots and they'd be counted so long as they arrived at election offices by April 13. Late Monday, the U.S. Supreme Court said, no, absentee ballots would be valid only if postmarked by primary day.

For those who care about good governance and fair democratic play — but who may have gotten lost — click for answers to some questions you may have...

No sports on TV? Here’s democracy bracketology (Voting Division)

Democracy reform is a really broad topic — with many more ideas for fixing the system than the long list of reasons why Americans say the government's not working for them.

So which is the most transformative proposal for ending the dysfunction and putting voters back at the center of things? Since you may have more time to think during this season of social distancing, it seems a good time to ask: If you had to pick a single reform, what would it be?

We're calling this Democracy Madness.

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Governor suspends Tuesday's in-person voting in Wisconsin

With just hours to go, there's still no certainty whether Wisconsinites will have to venture outside Tuesday for one of the most chaotic and potentially dangerous elections in memory.

Gov. Tony Evers issued an executive order Monday suspending the scheduled in-person voting, saying it would be irresponsible during what's projected to be the deadliest week yet in the coronavirus pandemic, which includes more than 2,300 cases across Wisconsin. Already, dozens of polling places had been abandoned and others were to be staffed by the National Guard because poll workers are staying home.

Whether the Democratic governor has the power to unilaterally postpone the election is unclear, and a Republican court challenge seemed certain.

Partisan operatives and voting rights advocates say what happens as Wisconsin conducts its voting and tabulates the results will shape elections for the rest of the year. It's been at least a century, they say, since a public health emergency has threatened to cripple the public's ability to participate in democracy and have confidence in the result.

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Coronavirus halts ballot measure progress across the country

Presidential election years are usually the prime time for getting small-d democracy initiatives on the ballot, but the coronavirus pandemic is posing a crippling threat to many campaigns.

Social distancing pressures by stay-at-home orders in all but a handful of states are making it nearly impossible to secure the tens of thousands of signatures needed to get initiatives on the November ballot. And because no state allows an alternate way of showing broad grassroots support — such as electronic signatures — many campaigns have halted operations.

Others are clinging to hope. Groups promoting six different ballot measures in Arizona filed lawsuits in federal and state court last week asking for permission to gather e-signatures at least during the public emergency, which has resulted in a statewide stay-at-home order through at least the end of the month.

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Florida given 8 weeks to abandon ballots struck down as discriminatory

Florida has eight weeks to come up with ballots for November abandoning a central feature of the past seven decades: the candidates from the governor's political party getting listed first in every contest.

That system was held unconstitutional five months ago, a federal judge ruling it "imposes a discriminatory burden on plaintiffs' voting rights." On Friday that judge, Mark Walker of Tallahassee, said he was tired of watching the state slow-walk plans for an alternative while waiting for its appeal to play out.

Since Republicans have held the governorship since 1999, they've had the top ballot line for 10 elections in a row in the nation's most populous political battleground. Democrats think their shot at the state's 29 electoral votes will go up if the ballot design is changed by November.

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