National Guard To Be Called Out On Election Day Over Coronavirus

MILWAUKEE, WI — Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers said he's calling out the National Guard to staff polling places across the state after election officials said nearly 60 percent of Wisconsin municipalities have an urgent shortage of poll workers.

Many jurisdictions have "dramatically consolidated polling places," state official said. According to the Wisconsin Election Commission, there are 111 communities that do not have the ability to staff even one polling place on April 7. Wisconsin local election officials say they're about 7,000 poll workers short for election day.

According to a JSOnline report, officials such as Commissioner Mark Thomsen are concerned that such a shortage means, coupled with slower mail service, that absentee ballots will either take much longer to count, or won't be counted at all.

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"Jurisdictions described as 'Critical' and 'Serious' are spread across the state with no geographic trends," administrator Megan Wolfe of the Wisconsin Election Commission said in a memo this week. "Nearly every county in Wisconsin has at least one municipality concerned about their ability to open a polling place on April 7."

By The Numbers

All data has been compiled by the Wisconsin Election Commission. This data was compiled when officials surveyed local municipalities about their capabilities on election day, April 7.

Critical: jurisdictions cannot staff even one polling place.

671 Poll Worker Shortage
111 Number of Jurisdictions

Serious: jurisdiction is unable to staff all desired polling places.

2,713 Poll Worker Shortage
126 Number of Jurisdictions

Concerning: jurisdiction has fewer staff than needed for efficient operations.

3,469 Poll Worker Shortage
542 Number of Jurisdictions

Stable: jurisdiction has enough poll workers to function efficiently.

86 Poll Worker Shortage
541 Number of Jurisdictions

Did not report a status.

n/a Poll Worker Shortage
530 Number of Jurisdictions

Related Reading

• Wisconsin Coronavirus Tracker
• More Hospital Beds Needed
• Coronavirus Closures: Walmart, Woodman's, Target, Mayfair, More

• What's going on in Wisconsin? Find Out Here

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