The Democratic Association of Secretaries of State released the following statement on today’s court decisions regarding Wisconsin primary elections.
California Secretary of State and President of the Democratic Association of Secretaries of State:
“We cannot allow our democracy to be a casualty of this pandemic.
Today’s court decisions to not extend absentee voting in Wisconsin amid the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic puts politics before the health and wellbeing of Wisconsin voters.
An electoral crisis is avoidable, but we must sound the alarm now and take urgent action to ensure that we offer accessible, secure and safe elections in November.
While every state is different, we need a 50-state plan to offer all voters options of when, where, and how they prefer to vote, including no-excuse vote-by-mail and in-person early voting for as many days as possible. Otherwise, Republican Governors and Republican controlled Legislatures will certainly follow the Wisconsin Legislature’s blueprint of last minute chaos and limited safe access to the ballot.
Elections administrators hope for the best, but must prepare for the worst case scenario — and Wisconsin is showing us what that looks like. We do not have to settle for an uncertain or chaotic November 3rd General Election, but we must act now. While we hope that the risks of the COVID-19 pandemic is reduced by November, public health experts have said that ‘the virus will dictate the timeline’ and have warned of a possible second wave that could well result in polling place closures (as in Ohio) or stay at home orders in November or both.
We’re on the clock, and we need to act now. Our democracy depends on it.”