So are we voting next week, or next month?

We are 3 days from our scheduled primary election, and we still don't know if it's going to happen and in what form will it happen.

Yesterday, we saw our Fair Governor ask for the election to be pushed back 6 weeks and set up a special session of the Legislature. Seems like this should have been done 10 days ago when we were told to stay at home, to put the GOP Legislature on the spot then, but instead Tony Evers tried to allow that gerrymandered body to do it on their own.

Since the Legislature did nothing and stayed on their paid vacation, Evers came back with his plans yesterday. So let's take a look and see what it says.

1. Extend the Spring 2020 election to May 19, 2020, and provide that all registered voters who have not yet been sent an absentee ballot or cast their ballot through in-person absentee voting be sent an absentee ballot.

Does that mean if we have received a ballot, sent it back and had our town receive it (as my wife and I have done), we don’t have to do anything and can’t change it even if we wanted to? I would suppose so because it’s already an all-mail-in election, but it doesn't specifically say.

Especially because the next part basically bans in-person voting outside of a few circumstances for voters with extra needs.

2. Provide that, except as provided in this paragraph, no further in-person voting be permitted for the Spring Election. Require each municipal clerk or election commission to provide a window of not less than eight (8) hours between now and May 19, 2020, during which they will open at least one specified polling place per municipality for the purpose of (a) allowing disabled electors to cast in-person ballots using assistive technology and (b) providing assistance to those voters who cannot read or write or have difficulty reading, writing, or understanding English. The hours during which and the location(s) at which each municipal clerk or election commission will hold in-person voting for this limited purpose will be publicly noticed for at least 48 hours before those hours begin. These windows of opportunity for in-person voting are limited only to those electors who, by reason of disability or difficulty reading, writing, or understanding English, are unable to cast a mail-in absentee ballot. These windows of opportunity for limited in-person voting will be conducted in accordance with best practices for public health identified by the Department of Health Service.

The next parts largely codify Judge Conley’s ruling from this week, and also includes some election-related changes that Evers and others have proposed in this prior session, including some procedures that would speed up the counting of all of these absentee ballots (which is something that looks like a major clusterfuck-in-waiting if the election happens next Tuesday).

3. Provide that, due to the current public health emergency and social distancing guidance, absentee ballots do not need to be witnessed and signed by another adult U.S. citizen.

4. Provide that, to be counted, all mail-absentee ballots must be received by municipal election authorities not later than May 26, 2020, whether those ballots are conveyed to municipal election authorities through the U.S. Postal Service, by another delivery service, or by deposit in any drop-box location publicly noticed by the municipal clerk as an acceptable depository.

5. Provide that every municipality is authorized to conduct a centralized canvass of votes cast in the Spring 2020 election, consistent with Wis. Stat. § 7 .52, without regard to whether the municipality has adopted an ordinance to this end.

6. Provide that every municipality is authorized to begin the process of counting ballots for the Spring 2020 election as soon as the municipality has sent out all mail-in absentee ballots for the Spring 2020 election. All counting shall be conducted in a manner that is available to observers. No partial or interim results may be reported or released to anyone prior to 8:00 pm on May 19, 2020.

The other parts basically allow any current local office holder to stay in power until the election (taking care of a situation where an office could become vacant before the vote), and in moving the special election to fill the open Congressional seat in the Northwoods that was vacated when Sean Duffy resigned in September to grift and cash in on wingnut welfare take care of his ill baby.

7. Provide that, given the necessary delay in the Spring 2020 election, those individuals currently serving in an office to be filled based upon the results of the Spring 2020 election ballot are authorized to continue fulfilling the duties of those offices, and exercising the privileges of those offices, until three business days after county, municipal, and school district clerks issue certificates of election, pursuant to Wis. Stat. §§ 7.53(4), 7.60(6), and 120.06(10), once the deadline to file a petition for recount and appeal of recount has passed. On the third business day after issuance of the certificate of election for any given office on the Spring 2020 election ballot, the term of the newly elected official in that office shall begin. Notwithstanding the delayed beginning of the term for such offices, the terms of all such offices shall expire as if the Spring 2020 election occurred as initially scheduled and all terms of office began as would be anticipated under such circumstances.

8. Provide that the May 12 Special Election for the 7th Congressional District be extended to May 19, 2020, and be run in accordance with the above provisions.

So what ultimately happens? Well, Vos and Fitz are already saying they will do nothing to make the election safer and want to go full steam ahead no matter what happens to the taxpayers who pay their salary.

Milwaukee could easily use city staff to open polling places like many other municipalities are doing in addition to their poll workers. Gov Evers has also offered the National Guard. It appears they want problems instead of an actual solution. https://t.co/twpGSY1ydr

— Robin Vos (@repvos) April 4, 2020

Here’s the statement from ⁦@SenFitzgerald⁩ and ⁦@SpeakerVos⁩ - they’re planning to appeal to US Supreme Court to stop absentee voting after Election Day pic.twitter.com/xxBd2FkyMo

— Matt Smith (@mattsmith_news) April 4, 2020

Priorities, you know.

Can we disguise #Coronavirus as a handout to Foxconn, so @RepVos and @SenFitzgerald will pay some attention to it?

— Scot Ross (@rossacrosswi) April 4, 2020

After Vos and Fitz and the rest of the WisGOPs do nothing this afternoon, I would hope/figure that Evers uses the inaction as a ‘last straw”. I would hope Evers then says that he isn't going to put the health of Wisconsinites at risk and isn't going to let them violate the stay-at-home orders, and delays the election and puts these provisions in place anyway. Let the GOPs and their Bradley Foundation puppetmasters sue in court and make even more people hate them.

I guess we will know within 6 hours, won't we? It's a dysfunctional mess and yet another absurdity that we've had to deal with in this state over the last decade. But that's just the way the ALEC Crew wants it.