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MADISON – Gov. Tony Evers, in the absence of legislative action, today signed Executive Order #74, suspending in-person voting for the April 7 spring election, moving in-person voting to June 9, 2020. The order also directs the Legislature to meet in special session on Tues., April 7, 2020 to address the election date. If the Legislature does not enact legislation to change the new election date, in-person voting will occur on June 9, 2020.
“Today, I signed an executive order suspending in-person voting for tomorrow’s election. Frankly, there’s no good answer to this problem—I wish it were easy. I have been asking everyone to do their part to help keep our families, our neighbors, and our communities safe, and I had hoped that the Legislature would do its part—just as the rest of us are—to help keep people healthy and safe,” said Gov. Evers. “But as municipalities are consolidating polling locations, and absent legislative or court action, I cannot in good conscience stand by and do nothing. The bottom line is that I have an obligation to keep people safe, and that’s why I signed this executive order today.”
All ballots already cast in the 2020 Spring election will remain valid and will be tallied in conjunction with the new in-person voting date.
Executive Order #74 is available here.
The governor previously signed Executive Order #73 calling the Legislature to meet in a special session to send a ballot to every registered voter, allow an all-mail election, and extend the time for those ballots to be received and counted. The Legislature did not take up these changes in special session. Gov. Evers also proposed legislation that had several provisions aimed at making voting easier and more accessible during the public health emergency. A brief summary of that legislation is available here for review. Additionally, Gov. Evers called for the Legislature to act on this issue in a video, available here.
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