State of Wisconsin

Office of the Governor

EXECUTIVE ORDER #74

Relating to suspending in-person voting on April 7, 2020, due to the COVID-19 Pandemic

WHEREAS, in December, 2019, a novel strain of the coronavirus was detected, now named COVID-19, and it has spread throughout the world, including every state in the United States;

WHEREAS, on January 30, 2020, the World Health Organization declared COVID-19 to be a Public Health Emergency of International Concern;

WHEREAS, on March 12, 2020, in Executive Order #72, I declared a public health emergency to direct all resources needed to respond to and contain COVID-19 in Wisconsin;

WHEREAS, on March 13, 2020, President Donald Trump proclaimed a National Emergency concerning COVID-19;

WHEREAS, on March 22, 2020, the Wisconsin Supreme Court delayed all jury trials until May 22, 2020, due to the health risks posed by COVID-19 to the public;

WHEREAS, on April 4, 2020, the Federal Emergency Management Agency granted Wisconsin a major disaster declaration for the entire State of Wisconsin as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic;

WHEREAS, on April 5, 2020, Vice Admiral Jerome Adams, the United States Surgeon General, state that the impact COVID-19 will have on the United States this week is “our Pearl Harbor moment, our 9/11 moment, and it’s not going to be localized, it’s going to be happening all of the country and I want America to understand that.”;

WHEREAS, as of April 5, 2020, 2,267 Wisconsinites have tested positive for COVID-19, 624 Wisconsinites have been hospitalized due to COVID-19, and 68 Wisconsinites have passed away as a result of COVID-19, 241,703 individuals in the United States have tested positive for COVID-19, and 5,854 have passed away as a result of COVID-19, and, worldwide, more than 1,100,000 people have tested positive for COVID-19, and more than 62,000 people have passed away as a result of COVID-19;

WHEREAS, Section 5.02 (21) of the Wisconsin Statutes mandates that the spring election be held on the first Tuesday in April, which this year is April 7, 2020;

WHEREAS, the Spring 2020 election includes a broad variety of important matters, including: presidential preference primaries for both major national political parties; a State-wide referendum on a proposed amendment to the Wisconsin Constitution; 132 county, school district, and local referenda; an election for a seat as a justice of the Wisconsin Supreme Court; elections for 3 seats as judges of the Wisconsin Court of Appeals; elections for 34 seats as judges of county circuit courts; elections for 102 seats as judges of municipal courts; elections for 1,596 county supervisors and officers; elections for 763 alders, mayors, and other city offices; elections for 464 village board trustees, board members, and other offices; elections for 291 town supervisors, clerks, and other offices; elections for 565 seats on the boards of common, union, and unified school districts; and elections for 12 seats as supervisors on the boards of sanitary districts;

WHEREAS, the State of Wisconsin has a highly decentralized election system under which elections are overseen by the Wisconsin Elections Commission, but are administered by 1,850 municipal clerks or election commissions and 72 county clerks;

WHEREAS, voters face significant risks of exposure to someone infected with COVID-19 by engaging in the process of in-person voting;

WHEREAS, poll workers face even greater risks of exposure to COVID-19, because serving as poll workers will require them to come in close proximity with dozens, if not hundreds, of voters as they facilitate those voters casting in-person ballots;

WHEREAS, in-person voting on April 7 creates a danger of COVID-19 exposure not only for those who serve as poll workers and in contact with one of those people in the weeks that follow;

WHEREAS, the extensive work of conducting an election in Wisconsin typically requires assistance from approximately 30,000 poll workers;

WHEREAS, due to staffing challenges created by the COVID-19 public health emergency, municipalities across the state project significant shortfalls of thousands of poll workers necessary to administer the Spring 2020 election;

WHEREAS, shortfalls in the number of poll workers are requiring municipalities around the state to consolidate polling places, which will necessarily mean larger crowds and greater exposure for those poll workers administering each polling place, as well as for those Wisconsinites who visit those polling places to cast in-person ballots;

WHEREAS, among these consolidations are the City of Waukesha, which has consolidated its polling locations from 15 to one location, the City of Milwaukee, which has consolidated its polling locations from 182 to five locations, which is a loss of over 97% of its polling location, and the City of Green Bay, which has consolidated its polling locations from 31 to 2 locations;

WHEREAS, even with the aforementioned consolidation of polling locations, as of April 2, 2020, the Wisconsin Elections Commission estimates that municipalities still need an additional 5,250 poll workers;

WHEREAS, no Wisconsinite should ever have to choose between exercising their constitutional right to vote and being safe, secure, and healthy;

WHEREAS, state and local public health officials – including local public health officers from Adams County, Barron County, Bayside, Brown Deer, Crawford County, Dane County, Door County, Eau Claire, Eau Claire County, Green Lake County, Florence County, Fox Point, Franklin, Glendale, Greendale, Hales Corners, Jefferson County, Madison, Marquette County, Milwaukee, Monroe County, Pierce County, Price County, Racine, River Hills, Rock County, Saint Croix County, Sauk County, Shorewood, Waushara County, Wauwatosa, West Allis, and Whitefish Bay – have determined that in-person voting on April 7 presents a “serious challenge to controlling the spread of COVID-19”;

WHEREAS, as Wisconsinites respond to the current public health emergency by conforming their conduct to Emergency Order #12 and social distancing guidance, municipal clerks are already reporting an unprecedented increase in requests for mail-in absentee ballots;