High court weighsWisconsin primary

Democrats and liberal groups on Sunday asked the U.S. Supreme Court to let stand an extended absentee voting period for Wisconsin’s primary on Tuesday, an election unfolding amid public health fears due to the coronavirus.

The groups argue that a federal judge’s order last week extending absentee voting from Tuesday to April 13 is critical for a fair election and to protect public health. They said the crush of absentee ballot requests — more than 1.1 million, far more than any previous election — has made it impossible for clerks to get them out to voters and get them back in time to beat what had been an 8 p.m. election night deadline.

Separately, a group of Wisconsin mayors on Sunday urged acting Health Secretary Andrea Palm “to step up and stop the State of Wisconsin from putting hundreds of thousands of citizens at risk” through in-person voting. The letter was signed by the mayors of Milwaukee, Madison, Green Bay and other cities.

Wisconsin is scheduled to conduct in-person voting Tuesday despite concerns about the health risks to voters and poll workers. Democratic Gov. Tony Evers and Republican leaders initially were united in sticking to the election date, but last week Evers reversed course and called for shifting to mail-only and extending absentee voting into May.

A federal judge subsequently declined to postpone the election, but handed Democrats a partial victory by extending the absentee voting period. Republicans appealed to the Supreme Court after the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals declined to reverse the lower court order.

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