The Wisconsin Democratic Party has called for postponing Tuesday’s presidential primary and other elections in the state amid the coronavirus outbreak, splitting with Democratic Gov. Tony Evers.

“The Democratic Party of Wisconsin endorses the call by civil rights groups and mayors across Wisconsin to postpone our April 7 election and remove barriers to safe voting by mail,” Ben Wikler, the party chair, said in a statement on Wednesday.


In addition, a lawyer representing both the Wisconsin state party and the Democratic National Committee said during a court hearing Wednesday that both groups would support pushing back the election during the public health crisis, if the court decides to do so.

The coronavirus has upended one of the only presidential elections still scheduled to take place in April, leading to a shortage of poll workers and concerns about voting in person. U.S. District Judge William Conley heard a consolidated lawsuit from several different groups seeking coronavirus-related changes to Wisconsin’s upcoming vote, from postponing the election to loosening requirements around absentee balloting.

Evers and other elected leaders in the state have balked at postponing Wisconsin's presidential primary, which is happening at the same time as major state and local general elections, even as Evers asked the federal government to issue a major disaster declaration for the entire state over coronavirus.

The DNC and the Wisconsin Democratic Party’s lawyer argued primarily about absentee requirements.


Conley seemed hesitant to postpone the election, in part because he thought it might be beyond his jurisdiction. “I don’t know if that's my place,” Conley said during his questioning of Meagan Wolfe, the administrator of the Wisconsin Elections Commission.

But Conley noted that he personally did not believe it was a good idea to hold the election. “The state of Wisconsin is ignoring that [public health] data and endangering its population,” the judge said at one point.

Conley seemed much more willing to entertain extending the absentee ballot postmark deadline. He said he would issue an order as soon as possible.

A DNC spokesperson declined to comment, citing ongoing litigation.


In a Tuesday filing made on behalf of Evers, Hannah Jurss, an assistant state attorney general, said the federal court should “consider a middle path that maintains the democratic process, while also implementing appropriate measures to save lives.” That included steps to make it easier for voters to return absentee ballots, including easing witness requirements and “a short extension” of the deadline for when absentee ballots can be received. Evers had advocated for a "predominantly-by-mail election, with limited but available in-person voting,"

A report from the Wisconsin Elections Commission on Tuesday found that nearly 60 percent of Wisconsin’s municipalities were reporting a shortage of poll workers, including more than 100 jurisdictions that said they lacked the ability to staff even one voting site right now.

“I intend to work at a polling place on Election Day,” state Assembly Speaker Robin Vos, a Republican, said at a Wednesday news conference. “I feel safe being there because of the safeguards that are being put in place by local governments and the Wisconsin Elections Commission. … We need people to step up [and volunteer], this election is going to happen. There’s no doubt in my mind that we’re going to have it on April 7.”

The Evers filing also raised the possibility of the governor deploying the National Guard to “assist as poll workers,” but it noted that “the assistance of the National Guard will not satisfy all of the current staffing needs.”

Some politicians in the state took the unusual step of telling their supporters to not show up on Election Day because of the pandemic. “I hope that people do not go to the polls on Tuesday. As much as I want them to vote, I do not want them to put their lives in jeopardy, I don’t want them to put the health and safety of our poll workers in jeopardy," Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett, a Democrat who is up for reelection, said, according to Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.

Sen. Bernie Sanders also issued a statement calling for the elections to be postponed: “The state should delay Tuesday’s vote, extend early voting and work to move entirely to vote-by-mail. While we wait for a decision, we urge our supporters to vote-by-mail.”