In a democracy, no one should be forced to choose between health and the right to vote.

Imagine if days before the November election you learn that your polling place has been closed, that your request for an absentee ballot has gone unfulfilled and that you have to risk a grave infection by standing in line — possibly for hours — to claim your stake in our democracy.

If that sounds outrageous to you, it should. But it’s exactly what happened in the Wisconsin election last week. First the Republican-controlled State Legislature blocked Gov. Tony Evers’s efforts to delay the election for public safety reasons, and then the United States Supreme Court reversed his order to extend the absentee ballot deadline.

In Milwaukee, which has the largest minority population in the state, the number of open polling places was shrunk to five from 180, as poll workers dropped out. In Green Bay, the number plunged to two from 31. Needless to say, the lines were hours long. Voters wore homemade face masks to protect themselves from contracting the coronavirus — if they were willing to risk voting at all.

And if you think there ought to be a better way, you’re not alone. I know of one person who, with an election approaching in his newly adopted state, simply requested an absentee ballot from the comfort of his own home — so he could vote safely and easily by mail.