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.
MILWAUKEE, WI APRIL 7: A woman hands out surgical masks to people standing in line to vote in ... [+]
KEY FACTS
The study, conducted by economists at The University of Wisconsin and Ball State University, found a "statistically and economically significant association” between in-person voting and the spread of Covid-19 weeks after the election.
Contact-tracing by the Wisconsin Department of Health tied 52 cases back to people who either voted or had worked at polls on April 7, though the researchers said the state’s investigation was “not comprehensive” and their study showed a "much larger potential relationship.”
The study looked at data from the county level, and concluded that counties where more people voted per voting location went on to have higher rates of positive coronavirus tests compared with counties where the voting was less concentrated.
Most states that were scheduled to hold Democratic primaries and local elections throughout April and May decided to cancel in-person voting in favor of mail-in ballots.
But in-person voting started to resume this week in Georgia as part of early voting for the state’s June 9 Democratic primary, as well as local races, though voters have the option of submitting absentee ballots.
In-person voting is also starting to resume in other areas, with some localities in the western part of Virginia holding in-person voting on Tuesday and Pennsylvania looking to allow in-person voting for its upcoming primaries.
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)
