Coronavirus Forces Wisconsin To Ask For New Poll Workers

MILWAUKEE, WI — Wisconsin election officials are calling for an influx of new poll workers for the April 7 election over fears that exposure to the new coronavirus will pose elevated risk to the state's roughly 30,000 poll workers, many of whom are in their 60s and 70s and may have health conditions.

“We know there are Wisconsinites looking for ways to serve their communities through this difficult time,” Meagan Wolfe, Wisconsin’s chief elections official, said Monday. “If you are a state, county or municipal employee, a teacher, a student or someone who is looking for temporary work, municipal clerks need your help.”

In a separate report on Monday, Wolfe urged Evers and state officials to increase protections for poll workers and voters, citing critical shortages.

"As of today, local election officials do not have access to the people or supplies needed," Wolfe said. "This leaves voters, clerks, and poll workers to make difficult choices. Voters should not have to choose between voting or staying healthy. Poll workers should not have to choose between serving their community or staying healthy. Our local election officials should not have to choose between facilitating democracy or staying healthy."

How To Become An Election Inspector

In Wisconsin, election inspectors are appointed at the municipal level. Anyone who is interested in working should contact their municipal clerk’s office, which can be found on the MyVote Wisconsin website: https://myvote.wi.gov/en-us/MyMunicipalClerk.

Municipal clerks will provide training for any new election inspectors before the election.
“The Commission and WEC staff recognize that this is an evolving situation and will continue to rely on the guidance of public health officials. We all stand ready to adjust as directed to ensure the safety of clerks, poll workers and voters,” said Wolfe on Monday.

Leaders Urge Election Postponement

As Wisconsin election officials scramble to find enough poll workers to staff polling places on April 7, a number of community leaders are urging Evers to postpone the election.

Christine Neumann-Ortiz, Executive Director of Voces de la Frontera, an immigrant rights organization in Wisconsin, said there are more than 150,000 Latino eligible voters in Wisconsin and the COVID-19 public health emergency "would interfere so much that conducting the election as scheduled would deprive many thousands of people of the chance to vote in person."

“Most Latinx voters rely on same day voter registration to cast their ballot," she said. "A decision to go ahead with this election will discourage people from voting and put them at risk of infection if they do vote in person.”

Ortiz was joined by former legislator Sandy Pasch, Debra Cronmiller, Executive Director of the League of Women Voters of Wisconsin, Rev. Gregory Lewis of Souls to the Polls, public health expert Thomas Kalluvila and attorney William Sulton, Legal Redress Chair of the Milwaukee Branch of the NAACP in calling for a later election in Wisconsin.