USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin

Gov. Tony Evers called the bluff of Republican leaders in the Legislature in a move more akin to poker than the governor's favored game of euchre — and he made the right move to protect the health of Wisconsin voters and poll workers.

Evers wants to convert Tuesday's Wisconsin primary election to vote-by-mail and extend balloting until May 19. That would keep the election on track and keep people safe during a public health emergency.

But so far Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald, R-Juneau, and Assembly Speaker Robin Vos, R-Rochester, don't seem to care if the lives of Wisconsin voters are at risk.

On Saturday afternoon, the chambers they lead gaveled in the special session called by Evers to change the election and quickly adjourned until Monday without acting.

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Voting by mail — and not in person — is the only responsible way to conduct an election as the coronavirus tears across Wisconsin. Evers insists his emergency powers do not give him the ability to make such changes himself.

Evers should test those powers if the Legislature continues to do nothing on Monday.

Fitzgerald and Vos have said they think going to the polls next week will be safe even though a massive shortage of poll workers will force clerks to sharply limit the number of polling places.

Vos and Fitzgerald make this claim even though we've all been urged by medical experts to stay home, keep our distance and avoid contact with more than a handful of others until this deadly virus dies down. They claim this even though more than 2 million state citizens voted at often-crowded polling stations in the last presidential primary when there were far more poll workers and places to vote.

Let's be clear: It is not safe for voters to go to the polls next week.

Aside from the obvious risk to public health, there is a risk to electoral credibility.

If the election is held, turnout is likely to be abysmal, which may disenfranchise large blocs of voters and call the results into question. A federal judge has invited those who brought lawsuits challenging the election to return to court afterward if they believe large numbers of people were denied their right to vote.

U.S. District Judge William Conley compared having an election during the coronavirus pandemic to conducting balloting during a hurricane.

Nationally, President Donald Trump is recommending strict adherence to social distancing for at least another month. And Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett, himself on the ballot on Tuesday, warned that “it’s dangerous during a pandemic” for voters to gather at the polls.

James Conway, an infectious diseases expert at the University of Wisconsin-Madison's Global Health Institute, said pushing ahead with in-person voting was "irresponsible."

But toxic politics, for many years a plague on Wisconsin’s body politic, appears to be winning.

The standoff between the Democratic governor and the Republican leadership in the Senate and Assembly has revealed an astonishing level of moral bankruptcy.

Evers' proposal to convert the election to mail-in balloting is a smart and sound way forward. It would ensure a fair vote, give citizens time to get and mail their ballots and county clerks time to count the votes.

Wisconsin also should adopt vote-by-mail for the August primary and general election in November. Even after the peak of coronavirus in Wisconsin — expected to happen between late April and mid-May — the contagion may still be with us.

So far, Republican leadership either doesn't get it — or for political reasons doesn't want to get it.

Perhaps they believe a low-turnout election works in their favor, especially in the marquee statewide race pitting Justice Daniel Kelly, a conservative backed by Trump, against a liberal, Dane County Circuit Judge Jill Karofsky, for a seat on the state Supreme Court. That nominally nonpartisan race will determine whether the Republican majority remains 5-2 on the state's high court or slips to 4-3.

Republicans have long worked to dampen voter turnout to their advantage. It's what drives their passion for voter ID laws, which tend to have a bigger impact on young voters who change addresses — and the poor. Both are more likely to vote for Democrats. Career Republican politicians like Vos and Fitzgerald claim the laws are necessary to prevent voter fraud when actually there has been a microscopically small amount of voter fraud ever found in Wisconsin elections.

When Evers last week called for every registered voter to get an absentee ballot, it was revealing that Vos quickly raised, without evidence, the old familiar specter of "massive voter fraud."

Earlier this week, Vos declared the polls safe and said he planned to work at one. “If you’re bored at home and you’re sick of watching Netflix, volunteer to go and help at the polls," he quipped.

But public health experts say in-person voting is risky.

"From a public health standpoint, it’s both the wrong message and it's taking an enormous gamble," Conway of UW-Madison said.

Even with low turnout, far too many people could be forced into close contact as they exercise their right to vote. Milwaukee normally has 180 polling places, for example, but will have only five on Tuesday because of the shortage of poll workers. Others fearful of waiting in crowded lines won't vote at all. What kind of election will that be?

If we’ve learned anything about the coronavirus over these past few weeks it’s that even people who don’t have symptoms can be carriers — and spreaders — of this deadly pathogen. In Washington state, a single choir practice in Mt. Vernon on March 10 has left two people dead and 45 more fighting the illness. No one seemed to be sick at the time. Yet at least one person was carrying the virus.

Compare the risk of a choir practice with a few dozen singers to a statewide election with thousands of voters.

Other states have taken steps to keep their citizens safe. On the eve of Ohio’s March 17 primary, Republican Gov. Mike DeWine decided it wasn’t safe for Ohioans to go to the polls, and eventually, the state’s top health official ordered them closed. Ohio lawmakers have extended voting by mail to April 28.

This is the most serious threat to public health in 100 years. The Legislature should follow the governor's lead and convert Wisconsin's election to mail only. In-person voting is too dangerous right now.

The governor has called the bluff of the GOP leaders by demanding action but, in reality, only the people of Wisconsin can call their bluff. Vos and Fitzgerald work for the citizens, not the other way around. There is still time to let them know who is really in charge of this democracy.

Hold them responsible by contacting their offices at:

Assembly Speaker Robin Vos (R-Rochester)

(608) 266-9171

(888) 534-0063

Email: Rep.Vos@legis.wisconsin.gov

Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald (R-Juneau)

(608) 266-5660

Email: Sen.Fitzgerald@legis.wisconsin.gov