Today, despite expert warnings of dire public health consequences,the State of Wisconsin held an in-person primary election that endangered and disenfranchised untold numbers of voters.
For weeks, Governor Tony Evers was reluctant to take action. His initial decision to extend absentee voting and his eventual executive order to delay this election came amid immense public pressure and only after the Republican-controlled state legislature’s inhumane refusal to avert this disaster. Not surprisingly, the Republican-controlled Wisconsin Supreme Court and the conservative majority of the U.S Supreme Court issued back-to-back decisions that undid Evers’ efforts.
The consequences of this confusing, last-minute, and undemocratic process will literally be fatal for some Wisconsinites. Holding an in-person election in the midst of a pandemic is a public health atrocity and an anti-democratic sham. It is abundantly clear that the Supreme Courts of both Wisconsin and the United States disenfranchised and endangered the people of Wisconsin for partisan gain. Under no circumstances are the results of today’s vote legitimate.
Voting is vital to any democracy, and as a state with some of the worst racial disparities in the country we know that too many have struggled for too long to exercise this basic right. This catastrophe is an offense to that history, and it shows that our struggle for a fair, safe, and free world must extend beyond the ballot box to win. We call on all people of good faith to join us in organizing for the rights of working people and to establish true democracy, not only in our government, but also our workplaces and throughout our communities. Visit madison.dsausa.org and join us.