Top Wisconsin court blocks governor's move to delay election

Updated: 5:16 p.m. on April 6, 2020

MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Wisconsin's presidential primary election will proceed Tuesday under an order from the state Supreme Court that came just hours after Democratic Gov. Tony Evers tried to postpone voting as part of a last-ditch effort amid growing fears over the coronavirus.

The court ruled 4-2 on Monday that Evers lacked the authority to move the election on his own.

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. 

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Updated: 4:58 p.m. on April 6, 2020

MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers has issued an executive order to delay the state's scheduled Tuesday presidential primary election for two months because of the coronavirus pandemic.

The move on Monday injects more chaos and last-minute uncertainty amid growing criticism about the state's harried efforts to allow for in-person voting.

The Democratic governor had previously opposed moving the election.

But he acted as poll sites closed because nervous volunteers were unwilling to staff them and as criticism about holding the election grew.

The order was immediately challenged by Republicans in the conservative-controlled Wisconsin Supreme Court.

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Posted: 9:48 a.m. on April 6, 2020

MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Wisconsin is moving ahead with plans to hold in-person voting for its presidential primary and spring election on Tuesday, despite the coronavirus pandemic.

National Guard members will help staff the polls, even as the U.S. Supreme Court is weighed whether to intervene. Democratic Gov. Tony Evers had originally pushed for Tuesday's election to proceed as planned.

But on Friday changed course and asked the Republican-controlled Legislature to extend absentee voting until May 19 and have it all be done by mail.

They have refused. Mayors are calling on Evers to take emergency action to stop the election, something he has declined to do. 

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