Former President Barack Obama blasted Republicans in Wisconsin for the 'debacle' election earlier this week in which voters stood ...
Former President Barack Obama blasted Republicans in Wisconsin for the 'debacle' election earlier this week in which voters stood on line for hours to cast a ballot in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic.
'No one should be forced to choose between their right to vote and their right to stay healthy like the debacle in Wisconsin this week,' the former president tweeted on Saturday.
'Everyone should have the right to vote safely, and we have the power to make that happen.
'This shouldn't be a partisan issue.
Former President Barack Obama slammed Republicans for forcing Wisconsinites to risk their health and wait on line for hours to vote in this past Tuesday's election despite a stay-at-home order
'No one should be forced to choose between their right to vote and their right to stay healthy like the debacle in Wisconsin this week,' the former president tweeted on Saturday
'Everyone should have the right to vote safely, and we have the power to make that happen,' according to Obama. 'This shouldn't be a partisan issue'
'Let's not use the tragedy of a pandemic to compromise our democracy,' the former president tweeted. 'Check the facts of vote by mail.'
'Let's not use the tragedy of a pandemic to compromise our democracy.
'Check the facts of vote by mail.'
The election that was held on Tuesday was for the presidential primary, a seat on the Wisconsin Supreme Court, and dozens of other local elections.
The state's Democratic governor, Tony Evers, issued an executive order delaying the election and extending absentee voting, but his decision was overruled by the state's Supreme Court, which has a conservative majority.
The state Supreme Court ruled by a 4-2 majority in favor of overturning Evers' executive order.
The court's ruling was along ideological lines, with conservative justices voting in favor while liberal justices opposing.
Evers claimed he wanted to push back the elections in order to minimize people's exposure to the virus.
But Republicans claimed that the governor did not have the authority to unilaterally delay an election.
Democrats accused Republicans of seeking to push ahead with the vote because lower voter turnout is generally thought to favor conservatives who are up for election.
Wisconsin was the only state in the country to proceed with elections scheduled for April as other states have opted to delay elections to prevent the spread of the virus.
Voters wait in line to cast their ballots in the Wisconsin presidential primary election at Marshall High School in Milwaukee on Tuesday
Voters in Milwaukee County (above) waited hours and appeared to be standing close to each other in violation of social distancing guidelines
One brave Milwaukee resident wore a gas mask to a polling place at Riverside University High School on Tuesday
Aaron Lipski, the assistant chief for the City of Milwaukee Fire Department, stands in a tyvec suit as he monitors health and safety at a polling station inside Hamilton High School in Milwaukee on Tuesday
'Welcome to the S*** Show!' wrote the state's lieutenant governor, Mandela Barnes, hours after the U.S. Supreme Court blocked a lower court ruling to allow more time for voters to send in absentee ballots.
As a result, thousands of Wisconsin voters waited in long, congested lines outside polling stations to participate in the presidential primary election and many were seen ignoring social distancing orders.
On social media, the Republican speaker of Wisconsin's state assembly was ridiculed after footage emerged showing him urging voters to head to the polls on Election Day while he was dressed head to toe in protective gear.
'You are incredibly safe to go out,' Robin Vos is seen in the video saying.
Vos defended the election, saying heading out to vote was risking 'less exposure' than the grocery store and postponing the election made 'no sense.'
Wisconsin's Assembly Speaker Robin Vos, a Republican, came under fire on Tuesday for urging voters to head to the polls on Election Day dressed head to toe in protective gear
Vos, volunteering at a polling station in Burlington, assured apprehensive Wisconsinites that 'everybody is here safe' with 'very minimal exposure'.
Nearly 1.3 million Wisconsin voters applied for absentee ballots for Tuesday's elections in the midst of the pandemic, more than the total number of votes cast in the 2016 Democratic primary, according to the Wisconsin Election Commission.
More than 1 million of those ballots have already been returned, the commission said.
Others will keep trickling in. Votes from Tuesday's election will not be tallied until after April 13, the deadline for mail-in ballots to arrive at local election offices.
The fierce debate over Wisconsin is a prelude to the political clash that is likely to ensue over the question of voting by mail for this November's general election.
That push is meeting strong resistance from Republicans nationwide, from the White House to elected officials in Republican-governed states such as Texas, Georgia and Ohio.Democratic leaders have called for expanding mail balloting amid their fears that coronavirus will continue keeping voters at home this year.
President Trump on Tuesday said he was opposed to expanding mail-in voting because of rampant fraud, though these claims are not true.
'Mail ballots — they cheat. OK? People cheat,' he said.
'There's a lot of dishonesty going along with mail-in voting.'
The president himself neglected to mention that he mailed in his ballot last month when his home state of Florida held its primaries.
Texas, for example, is one of 15 states requiring voters to provide an excuse, such as disability or advanced age, when requesting an absentee ballot.
An April 2 advisory to election officials from the Secretary of State noted that Texas' election code defines 'disability' to include conditions that would jeopardize voters' health if they voted in person.
But the advisory did not specify that voters practicing social distancing could be eligible under this definition.
The Democratic Party sued Texas's Republican leadership in federal court on Tuesday to force the state to allow no-excuse absentee voting.
The state has not yet responded to the complaint.
On Wednesday, the American Civil Liberties Union sued Georgia's Republican Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger in federal court over that state's absentee ballot rules.
The complaint alleged that requiring voters to pay their own postage when submitting mail-in absentee ballots and absentee ballot applications was tantamount to a poll tax.
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