Milwaukee’s election fiasco infected seven with COVID-19, officials say

Wisconsin’s controversial decision to hold a primary election in the middle of the coronavirus epidemic has led to the infection of at least seven people, Milwaukee health officials say.

According to officials, six voters and one poll worker have tested positive for COVID-19. They added that more cases could emerge in the coming days. It’s also not known how many infections may have happened in other parts of the state.

Fears of the coronavirus caused drastic shortfalls in volunteers to be poll workers for the April 7 election. That, in turn, forced officials to reduce the number of polling sites. Milwaukee was one of the hardest-hit parts of the state, with the number of voting locations falling from 180 to five. That forced some voters to wait in line for hours if they wanted to cast a vote.

In the days before the election, critics had warned that holding the vote in person could aid the spread of the virus. Governor Tony Evers asked the legislature to delay the vote a week ahead of the election, but the Republican-controlled legislature concluded that there wasn’t enough time to do so. A federal judge rejected efforts to delay the vote without approval from the legislature.

In Florida, at least two poll workers tested positive for the coronavirus after the state’s March 17 election. Ohio is scheduled to hold a primary election on April 27, but the election will be conducted almost entirely by mail.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has pushed for federal legislation to promote mail-in voting for the November general election. But so far those proposals have been rejected by Republican leaders in Congress.