Governor Evers signed Executive Order #74, suspending in-person voting for the April 7 spring election and moving it to June 9, 2020. The Executive Order does the following:

• Suspend in-person voting for April 7, 2020, until June 9, 2020, unless the Legislature passes and the Governor approves a different date for inperson voting. In the interim, registered Wisconsin voters may continue to request absentee ballots until 5:00 p.m. on the fifth day immediately preceding the new in-person election date, consistent with Wis. Stat. § 6.86(1)(b); clerks shall continue to provide absentee ballots within one business day of the time each elector’s request is received, consistent with Wis. Stat. § 7.15(1)(cm); and eligible voters may continue to cast mail-in absentee ballots as long as they are returned so that they are delivered to the polling place no later than 8 p.m. on the new election date, consistent with Wis. Stat.§ 6.87(6). All ballots already cast in the 2020 Spring election will remain valid, will be tallied in conjunction with in-person voting on the new date, and will be included in all relevant canvasses for the Spring 2020 election.
• Require the convening of a special session of the Legislature at the Capitol in the City of Madison, to commence at 2:00 p.m. on April 7, 2020, solely to consider and act upon legislation to set a new in-person voting date for the 2020 Spring election.
• Provide that, given the necessary delay in the Spring 2020 election, those individuals currently serving in an office to be filled based upon the results of the Spring 2020 election ballot are authorized to continue fulfilling the duties of those offices, and exercising the privileges of those offices, until three business days after county, municipal, and school district clerks issue certificates of election, pursuant to Wis. Stat. §§ 7.53(4), 7.60(6), and 120.06(10), once the deadline to file a petition for recount and appeal of recount has passed. On the third business day after issuance of the certificate of election for any given office on the Spring 2020 election ballot, the term of the newly elected official in that office shall begin. Notwithstanding the delayed beginning of the term for such offices, the terms of all such offices shall expire as if the Spring 2020 election occurred as initially scheduled and all terms of office began as would be anticipated under such circumstances.

In response, Speaker Vos and Senate Majority Leader said, “We are immediately challenging this executive order in the Wisconsin State Supreme Court. The clerks of this state should stand ready to proceed with the election. The governor’s executive order is clearly an unconstitutional overreach.”

In his Executive Order, and in his opening remarks on a media conference call Governor Evers highlighted the following things:

• The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) granted Wisconsin a major disaster declaration for the entire state.
• The United States Surgeon General said this week the United States will have “our Pearl Harbor moment, our 9/11 moment, and it’s not going to be localized, it’s going to be happening all over the country and I want American to understand that.”
• Dr. Deborah Brooks, the White House’s Coronavirus Coordinator said this is the moment for people to be staying at home, not going to the grocery store, or the pharmacy or anywhere else.  She said people should stay at home for the next seven days.
• President Donald Trump said this week the United States is “going to have a lot of death.”

Governor Evers was asked why a week ago he didn’t believe he had the authority to unilaterally change the election and today he does.  Evers responded, “Circumstances have changed.” Evers went on to explain that Wisconsin has seen an increase of cases over the weekend, an increase of deaths, and that the continued shortage of poll workers and consolidation of polling places makes it unsafe for people to have in-person voting.

Evers repeated several times throughout the media call that he is responsible for the welfare of the citizens of Wisconsin and he is not playing a game.