On Monday Governor Tony Evers issued Executive Order #74 that would have suspended in-person voting for today’s election. The order addressed the potential of poll workers to get sick, the lack of poll workers, and the dramatic decrease in polling places. The order would have pushed back in-person voting til June. State GOP lawmakers went to the Wisconsin Supreme Court to block the order and won. The Wisconsin Supreme Court ruled 4-2 to block the order. By the end of the evening, the Supreme Court of the United States also blocked the order. In a 5-4 vote, the majority ruled against their attempt to extend the deadline for absentee voting in Tuesday’s elections, saying such a change “fundamentally alters the nature of the election.” The court’s four liberal members dissented, with Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg writing that “the court’s order, I fear, will result in massive disenfranchisement.”
As the election goes on, the state’s confirmed cases of COVID-19 increased by 173 to 2,440 on Monday, according to Department of Health Services. More than 25% of those who have tested positive had been hospitalized.