Wisconsin court rules that primary can proceed on Tuesday

MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Voters in Wisconsin will likely face a choice on Tuesday of participating in a presidential primary election or heeding warnings from public health officials to stay away from large crowds during the coronavirus pandemic.

The Wisconsin Supreme Court on Monday ordered the election back on, hours after Democratic Gov. Tony Evers issued an executive order postponing it for two months. That was part of a last-ditch effort by Evers to stop in-person voting on Tuesday out of concerns about putting poll workers and voters at risk of being exposed to COVID-19.

The court ruled 4-2, with four conservatives in support and two liberals against, that Evers lacked the authority to move the election on his own. Evers had previously opposed moving the election and said he didn’t have the authority to shift the timing unilaterally. But he changed course Monday, ordering a delay of in-person voting to June 9, as poll sites closed because nervous volunteers were unwilling to staff them and as criticism about holding the election grew.

The governor said his order was the last hope for stopping the election, and he had no immediate comment after the ruling about any other possible legal challenges.

“There’s not a Plan B. There’s not a Plan C,” Evers said earlier Monday.

The Wisconsin election is being viewed as a national test case in a broader fight over voter access in the age of the coronavirus with major implications for the presidential primary contests ahead — and, possibly, the November general election. Many other states pushed their primaries back as the coronavirus swept across the nation.

Meanwhile, Republicans have also asked the U.S. Supreme Court to throw out a lower court’s order extending absentee voting to April 13. There was no indication on when the top court would rule.