Judge Says No Wisconsin Election Results Until April 13

MILWAUKEE, WI — The odyssey that is the April 7 election in Wisconsin took another turn on Friday, after a federal judge ruled that any results from the election won't be reported publicly until extended absentee ballot counting is complete on April 13.

That means, when voters go to the polls on April 7, they won't know the results until nearly a week later. Whoever wins the April 7 presidential primary, and whoever wins a myriad of state-level elections and innumerable local ones won't know until April 13 whether they've won or lost.

In Wisconsin, the coronavirus public health emergency has closed schools, non-essential businesses and many government functions. Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers issued a "safer-at-home" order setting limits on public gatherings and daily travel. Despite these regulations, the governor staunchly maintains that the April 7 election must go on. Earlier this week, Evers called out the National Guard to deploy plain-clothes members to assist at the polls after municipalities across the state reported critical shortages of poll workers - so much so that many have consolidated polling place locations.

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On Friday, Evers announced a special session for the state legislature, calling on the Republican-controlled body to adopt a raft of initiatives that would make voting easier and safer, including mass-mailing ballots to all registered voters.

“As we’ve faced these challenges over the past few weeks, I have also asked the people of our state to do their part to help," he said in a statement. "Well here’s the bottom line folks: if, as elected officials, we’re going to expect the people of our state to make sacrifices to keep all of us safe, then, by golly, we better be willing do our part, too. So, today I announced that I am calling the Legislature into a special session to do its part—just as all of us are—to help keep our neighbors, our families, and our communities safe.”

On Thursday, U.S. District Judge William M. Conley of the U.S. District Court - Western District of Wisconsin refused to postpone the election, saying he did not see evidence that "hundreds of thousands" of voters would have their civil rights violated amid the coronavirus public health emergency.

In the same ruling, Conley extended the deadline for absentee ballots to be received by election officials from 8 p.m. on election night to 4 p.m. on April 13. The move gives poll workers more time to tally votes.

According to a WISN 12 report, Conley's ruling could have created a situation where local clerks started reporting partial results from the absentee ballots they counted in addition to the in-person voters on election day. The total results wouldn't be known until all ballots had been counted by April 13.

Wisconsin is the only state with a primary election in April after Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers staunchly supported moving forward with the election despite the coronavirus public health emergency.

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