Wearing mask, gloves, and protective gown, Wisconsin GOP assembly speaker says it's 'incredibly safe' to vote

(Image credit: Screenshot/YouTube/TMJ4News)

published 8 April 2020

While decked out in a mask, gloves, and full protective gown, Wisconsin Assembly Speaker Robin Vos (R) said it was "incredibly safe" for people to come out and vote on Tuesday amid the coronavirus pandemic.

On Monday morning, Gov. Tony Evers (D) issued an executive order to delay in-person voting until June 9, saying he "cannot in good conscience" allow any kind of gathering that would further the spread of the COVID-19 coronavirus. Hours later, the Wisconsin Supreme Court's conservative majority sided with Republicans who challenged this, ruling 4-2 that Evers lacked the authority to unilaterally move the election.

Vos served as an election inspector in Racine County on Tuesday, and told The Journal Times as a poll worker it was mandatory for him to wear a protective mask, gloves, and gown. At his location, people could drive up to vote, and that offered "very minimal exposure" to others. "There's less exposure here than you would get if you went to the grocery store," he added. That wasn't the case everywhere in Wisconsin; at some polling locations, voters waited in line for two hours.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Vos was one of the Republican leaders pushing to make sure voting took place on Tuesday, despite the health risks. The race to watch in Wisconsin is between Daniel Kelly, a conservative incumbent justice on the state Supreme Court, and his liberal challenger, Jill Karofsky. The New York Times' Reid Epstein writes that if "Kelly wins, it would cement the conservative majority's ability to block any future Democratic efforts to change voting laws and litigate an expected stalemate over congressional and state legislative boundaries during redistricting that will follow the 2020 census." Catherine Garcia

Explore More

Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.