Ideology kills

[Admin]

After a drawn-out battle between a Democratic governor and Republican legislature, the conservative Wisconsin supreme court issued a last-minute order telling confused election officials to proceed with the state’s primary election – despite a pandemic. With coronavirus numbers in Wisconsin up sharply in recent days, the court’s decision risks sending countless (Democratic) voters to early and painful deaths. In contrast to the 15 states which have postponed primary elections, Wisconsin alone will send voters to the polls in April.

The decision is mind-boggling. It gets even worse: on Tuesday, the entire city of Milwaukee had just five polling places, down from the usual 180. Officials were reportedly preparing for as many as 10,000 people at each one. How could this be possible? The last few weeks have brought us irrefutable evidence that self-quarantine and social distancing save lives. Conversely, allowing normal gatherings to go forward – like New Orleans Mardi Gras, the Michigan primary, even a single party of jet-setters in Connecticut – leads to soaring death rates.

Wisconsin decided to allow people to vote this week. People will die as a result | Sandy Tolan | Opinion | The Guardian