At Least Seven People Contracted The Coronavirus During Wisconsin’s Elections, Officials Say – By J. Lester Feder (Buzzfeed) / April 22 2020
In-person voting went ahead earlier this month after Republicans fought a delay and mail-in ballots. Now people are beginning to get sick.
At least seven people in Milwaukee are believed to have contracted the coronavirus from taking part in the Wisconsin elections on April 7, according to the city’s health department.
Ahead of the vote, Wisconsin’s Democratic governor, Tony Evers, had sought to delay the in-person voting and extend the deadline for mail-in ballots out of concern that the polls could become hot spots for spreading the coronavirus. But the state’s Republicans fought his efforts all the way to the Wisconsin Supreme Court, forcing the election to be held as planned.
“Everything that we were fearful of and everything we warned about has unfortunately started to come true,” said Philip Shulman, a spokesperson for the Wisconsin Democratic Party, told BuzzFeed News. “This is exactly why we pushed to change the way the election was administered.”
On Election Day, Wisconsin’s Republican House Speaker Robin Vos broadcast a video to assure Wisconsinites they were safe to vote while he wore a mask and full-body protective gear. And on Tuesday, the Republican legislature filed a motion in support of a state Supreme Court lawsuit seeking to end the governor’s stay-at-home order to slow the spread of the coronavirus. The Wisconsin Republican Party did not respond to a request for comment, nor did the legislature’s Republican leaders.
Continue to article: https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/lesterfeder/seven-people-coronavirus-wisconsin
