Coronavirus Infections Spiked In Wisconsin After In-Person Election, Study Says

TOPLINE

Wisconsin’s controversial decision to hold an in-person primaries on April 7 led to a “large” spread of coronavirus, a study has found, while in-person voting resumed this week Georgia — the largest state to hold in-person voting since widespread social distancing restrictions were put in place in March.

KEY FACTS

BIG NUMBER

Over 15,000 — That’s how many showed up to vote in-person on Monday at Georgia’s limited polling locations, according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, a higher number than what the state saw on the first day of early voting for primaries in 2018 or 2016.

KEY BACKGROUND

Wisconsin’s arrangements for its presidential primaries — held for both parties — were subject to intense criticism. Though Joe Biden had started to pull away with the delegate lead following his Super Tuesday wins, the election there was still competitive, as Bernie Sanders hadn’t yet announced his campaign’s suspension.

The election was held after several court battles to decide whether or not the process the state planned to use to delay the election was legal. The Wisconsin Supreme Court voted 4-2 the evening of April 6 to block Gov. Tony Evers’ plan to use an executive order to push the election to a new date.

That ruling was then challenged in the federal courts, with the U.S. Supreme Court ultimately voting 5-4 to uphold the state court’s ruling.

CRITICAL QUOTE

“The public health implications are clear and follow common sense: in-person voting in the midst of a pandemic caused by a highly infectious pathogen is a terrible idea,” Steffanie Strathdee, an infectious disease epidemiologist and associate dean of global health sciences at UC San Diego, told Forbes. “Absentee voting should be the norm in such situations.”

TANGENT

President Donald Trump has consistently railed against states that are using mail-in ballots, claiming — without evidence — that it leads to widespread voter fraud.

FURTHER READING

52 who worked or voted in Wisconsin election have COVID-19 (ABC News)

More Georgians voted by mail than in-person on Day 1 of early voting (Atlanta Journal-Constitution)