No pollworkers & 1M Absentee ballots at risk

[SmartVoter22]

This is not encouraging for any Wisconsin Voter.

"...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."

...Responding to absentee ballot requests is taking a week even though state law requires absentee ballots to be sent within 48 hours.
Witzel-Behl estimated Madison would receive more than 1,000 absentee ballots after the polls close on election day — too late to be counted. “Under the current law, all of those voters will be disenfranchised — their votes won’t count,” Witzel-Behl said in a court filing.

From the Green Bay Press-Gazette..
...Nearly 1 million voters have asked for absentee ballots for the April 7 presidential primary and election for state Supreme Court and local offices. That surpasses the total number of early ballots cast — both by mail and in person — in the 2016 presidential election.

[CrispyQ]

1. What a terrible year to have elections even more compromised than they already are.

[SheltieLover]

2. OMG

Can't they be put in a bank vault or something for safekeeping? 😰

[AllyCat]

3. Our city moved voting to an abandoned store.

Election Day for ALL precincts will be in this one place. City encouraging absentee voting and early voting at City Hall.

[Jimbo S]

4. This is turning into a hot mess.

I know this is DU, but I think Evers is handling the election situation poorly. I'm not a civics scholar, but is it too much trouble to push it out to May 7? Who would need to approve it.

I voted today in person at the Waukesha City Hall. I had to make an appointment last week to vote today. They were allowing only three people inside every fifteen minutes. I show up at 8 am sharp with two others, only to be told the computers are down. The other two were given envelopes and left. I decided to stick around a few minutes. Eventually, two staffers validated my eligibility manually and the third gave me a ballot. After filling out the ballot, I had to put it an envelope and stuff it in the ballot box. By law, not allowed to be "given" a ballot. I had to fill out the oversized envelope and the yellow request card. They took the card and my ID, issued the ballot and went from there.

Mail-in voting is not going to work this time because it is so close to the election, now. My wife got her ballot in the mail last week after about a ten calendar-day delay. This is going to be voter suppression on a large scale, and this time it will be on Evers. I hope our side doesn't lose elections over this.

On edit: found out yesterday that Waukesha (pop 75K) will have only one polling place open.

[catrose]

5. I just read that the governor is calling out the National Guard to work the polls.

Wisconsin Election

I'm worried about them being protected. If hospitals can't get masks, can the National Guard? Should all the mask makers crank it into even higher gear?

[SmartVoter22]

6. Sunday Apr 5 update

Gov Evers called the state legislature into an emergency session on Sat, The GOP, who is locked into a Trumpian "No To Everything" mindset, promptly went into session and, within seconds adjourned until Monday.
Gov. Evers also called for a mail-only election for 2020, which was the main reason for the special session.
https://www.jsonline.com/story/news/solutions/2020/04/03/editorial-wisconsin-election-should-not-happen-person/2945865001/

So no action on protecting voters or pollworkers.

Wisconsin should become national news over this in-person voting election on Tues April 7th.

[Kashkakat v.2.0]

7. The judge said extend the absentee balloting - how is that not a favorable outcome? What am I

missing here, why is everyone so adamant about going to all mail in balloting?