Some Election Clerks are so Short of Workers because of the Coronavirus Pandemic that they are Planning to Shut Polling Places around Wisconsin, including many in Milwaukee. One Clerk is Warning that some Voters in the April 7th Election Won’t be able to Return their Absentee Ballots in time to have them Counted.
Milwaukee needs about 1,400 Poll Workers to Run its Election but so far has fewer than 400, according to Neil Albrecht, Director of the Milwaukee Election Commission. Another 300 Workers are Needed for the Central Location where Absentee Ballots are Processed, but fewer than 50 had been Hired as of last week.
Training those Poll Workers is Difficult because Health Officials say People must stay 6 feet away from One Another to Slow the Spread of Coronavirus. As a result, the City likely won’t be able to Staff All its voting Locations, “leaving mail-in absentee voting as the only means currently by which Milwaukee voters will be able to vote for the spring election scheduled to occur on April 7,” Albrecht said.
The Election is shaping up to be like No other in Decades. On the Ballot is the Presidential Primary as well as Races for State Supreme Court and Local Offices, including Milwaukee Mayor and Milwaukee County Executive.
Around the State, clerks are working Overtime to deal with the Challenges, from Managing the flood of Absentee Ballot Requests to Training Replacements for poll Workers who are fearful of Working Election Day to Outfitting their Offices to Reduce the Possibility of the Virus Spreading.
It’s hard to Generalize about their Experiences because the State’s Army of Local Election Clerks represents more than 1,800 Municipalities of All Sizes, but Challenges are cropping up all over.
Waukesha announced Monday that because it has Lost so many Poll Workers to concerns about the Virus, it would Conduct Election-Day Voting at One Location instead of 13. That One Location will be the City’s Recreation Center, a Space large enough that Officials believe it can provide the necessary Social Distancing. Instead of the 300 or so Volunteer Poll Workers the City might have for All its Polling Locations, it expects to have only about 40 to 50. “Every day, I get more emails from people asking to pull out, which is totally understandable,” said Gina Kozlik, Waukesha's Clerk-Treasurer. “We’re putting other things in place” for election day. Our team is working on screens with Plexiglas and cones to control the flow of walk-in traffic.” Kozlik said.
The City is urging Voters to Request an Absentee Ballot and Vote by Mail, though it is a Separate Challenge to keep up with those Requests. It is only Accommodating In-Person Early Voting by Appointment. “It’s quick,” Kozlik said of the Sudden Transformation that Communities have had to Manage in Conducting Elections. “Everybody’s being creative … I really think we’re doing some of our best work.”
Responding to Absentee Ballot Requests is taking a Week even though State Law requires Absentee Ballots to be sent within 48 hours. The Fear is Receiving Absentee Ballots after the Polls Close on Election Day, too Late to be Counted. Under the Current State Law, all of those Voters will be Disenfranchised, their Votes won’t Count.
Gov. Tony Evers (D) said it was “Essential” to get at least 75% of Voters to use Mail-In Ballots. “We want to make this election as safe as we can — it’s our job and our duty to administer laws of the State of Wisconsin,” he said. “Nothing is completely safe.”
In Brookfield, Historically One of the Highest-Turnout Communities in Wisconsin, Officials are going to great lengths to Prepare for Election Day. They have Recruited and Trained both Volunteers and City employees on hiatus and others Furloughed from their Work to Replace Regular Poll Workers, many of them in their 60s and 70s, who have Declined to Work the Polls this year because of Health Concerns. “All I need them to do is not get sick,” Brookfield City Clerk, Kelly Michaels, said of her Replacement Poll workers.
The City is moving its Election-day Operations into the Bigger Brookfield Conference Center. It will have City Sanitation Crews on hand to Disinfect Surfaces. Other Personnel will Open and Close Doors for Voters so they Don’t Touch the Door Handles. Local Businesses have Donated Hand Sanitizer.
UPDATE
A Federal Judge in Wisconsin is hearing Arguments Wednesday afternoon that next week's Primary must be either Postponed Altogether or made much more Permissive for Voters since it would happen near the Peak of the Coronavirus Pandemic.
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