Republicans Are Forcing Wisconsin to Hold an Election in a Coronavirus Pandemic

[Galraedia]

Wisconsin is careening towards an election-day disaster on Tuesday, an ominous preview of how the pandemic, paired with partisanship, could shape the presidential elections this fall.

The state is the only one that refused to move its elections out of April to respond to the coronavirus. And the Republicans who control Wisconsin’s state legislature, working closely with the national GOP, spent weeks refusing to change election rules to make it easier to vote safely.

Wisconsin Republicans have been working closely with Trump’s campaign and the Republican National Committee to try to prevent universal vote-by-mail in the state, part of an expansive effort from the RNC as they ramp up to fight coronavirus-related election changes they think could hurt their election chances.

“There’s serious concern on the conservative side that the liberals are changing the rules in the middle of the election and tilting them toward their favor,” said Brian Reisinger, a top Wisconsin GOP strategist. “There’s a major feeling that absentee and early voting are tools of the left to make up for the fact that they can’t win on election day.”

Read more: https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/n7jg4z/republicans-are-forcing-wisconsin-to-hold-an-election-in-a-coronavirus-pandemic