Ten Wisconsin mayors are urging the state’s top health official to help prevent in-person voting in Tuesday’s primary — by shutting down all buildings where voting is set to occur, a report said.
“We implore you to implement all emergency measures necessary to control the spread of COVID-19, a communicable disease,” said a letter obtained by Politico and addressed to Andrea Palm, the secretary-designee of Wisconsin’s Department of Human Services.
“Specifically, we need you to step up and stop the State of Wisconsin from putting hundreds of thousands of citizens at risk by requiring them to vote at the polls while this ugly pandemic spreads.”
The mayor of Wisconsin’s capital, Madison, and the state’s most populous city, Milwaukee, were among those who signed the letter.
Gov. Tony Evers has previously ordered residents to stay inside and avoid public gatherings to help slow the spread of COVID-19.
Evers is pushing state lawmakers to pass a bill that would allow voters to cast their votes by mail. But his plan is unlikely to get through the Republican-controlled Legislature.