Good that the City of Madison is now seeking the postponement of the April 7th election.
Nothing about a postponement should be seen or defined as partisan.
It's only a pandemic best-practice in the face of official projections finally coming from The White House showing that infection and death rates nationally will skyrocket in the next two weeks. April 7th is in the bulls-eye.
Voters, poll workers and other involved in on-site balloting and then absentee ballot sorting and tallying should not put their own lives and those of people inadvertently infected later by the Covid-19 virus at risk to hold to a schedule set up in normal times.
And the good news about the election calendar is that the Supreme Court election on the April 7th ballot is not actually implemented should there be a change in incumbency until August, and that leaves ample time for a doable transition if one is needed.
We are in the midst of an unprecedented crisis that demands temporary, rational, life-saving personal and public responses.
Absentee voting has no doubt surged because of the threat, but not everyone has access to a computer to download the application. Broadband limitations are another dis-equalizing fact of life. Both circumstances will force some voters to take their chances at a polling place, jeopardizing their own health and others in the room.
And no one at a polling place on April 7th needs become an ER patient a few days later.
Wisconsin needs to act to save lives, and to ensure a smooth, safe and smartly effective election process.
Nothing about a postponement should be seen or defined as partisan.
It's only a pandemic best-practice in the face of official projections finally coming from The White House showing that infection and death rates nationally will skyrocket in the next two weeks. April 7th is in the bulls-eye.
WASHINGTON -- President Donald Trump on Tuesday warned Americans to brace for a "rough two-week period" ahead as the White House released new projections that there could be 100,000 to 240,000 deaths in the U.S. from the coronavirus pandemic even if current social distancing guidelines are maintained....Dr. Anthony Fauci, the government's top infectious disease expert, said the numbers are "sobering" and called on Americans to "step on the accelerator" with their collective mitigation efforts.So let's do that right here, now.
Voters, poll workers and other involved in on-site balloting and then absentee ballot sorting and tallying should not put their own lives and those of people inadvertently infected later by the Covid-19 virus at risk to hold to a schedule set up in normal times.
And the good news about the election calendar is that the Supreme Court election on the April 7th ballot is not actually implemented should there be a change in incumbency until August, and that leaves ample time for a doable transition if one is needed.
We are in the midst of an unprecedented crisis that demands temporary, rational, life-saving personal and public responses.
Absentee voting has no doubt surged because of the threat, but not everyone has access to a computer to download the application. Broadband limitations are another dis-equalizing fact of life. Both circumstances will force some voters to take their chances at a polling place, jeopardizing their own health and others in the room.
And no one at a polling place on April 7th needs become an ER patient a few days later.
Wisconsin needs to act to save lives, and to ensure a smooth, safe and smartly effective election process.
