Wisconsin voters head to polls, cast ballots in primary race

Wisconsin voters braved the threat of the coronavirus to head to the polls Tuesday to pick their preferred White House candidate and down-ticket office holders, kicking the 2020 Democratic presidential primary race back into action.

Former Vice President Joseph R. Biden was favored to win in the general election battleground state that could be vital to President Trump’s chances of winning a second term.

The result of the race, though, is not expected until early next week and would come with the asterisk: Sen. Bernard Sanders of Vermont had called for the election to be postponed and urged his supporters to vote absentee.

“The challenge for Biden is getting any positive bump at all from winning the primary. Or even getting anyone to notice,” said Mark Rozell, a political science professor at George Mason University. “With only one news story right now, his primary wins don’t seem important to anything.

“Somehow he has to look like he has not disappeared from the national conversation,” Mr. Rozell said.

Mr. Biden said in an interview that aired Tuesday on NBC that the Nov. 3 general election should not be postponed because of the coronavirus and that contingency plans should be made to ensure people can vote without risking their health.

“Have all the experts, both political parties and academia laying out what it would take to have voting by mail,” he said. “I’d much prefer to have in-person voting but it depends. It depends on the state of play, but we cannot delay or postpone a constitutionally required November election.”

Republicans have suggested calling for an all-mail election is premature.

Despite a stay-at-home order in Wisconsin, people lined up for hours Tuesday to vote in Waukesha and Milwaukee, where the number of polling locations was reduced from 180 to five, leading to long waits and generating additional concerns among public health officials.

The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel ran photos of voters standing in line wearing masks, including one who held a “This is Ridiculous” cardboard sign, and trying to adhere to social distancing guidelines.

The newspaper reported that polling locations taped X’s on the floor to help people keep the proper distance from others.

The election was held after the Wisconsin Supreme Court sided with state Republican leaders by blocking Gov. Tony Evers’s last-ditch attempt to delay in-person voting through an executive order.

Mr. Evers had backed going forward with the election until late last week.

The state had issued more than 1.3 million absentee ballots, which had to be postmarked by Tuesday to be counted as part of the final tally.

Voters were also having their say in contests for the state Supreme Court and local offices across the state, including the mayoral race in Milwaukee.

“Although I remain deeply concerned about the public health implications of voting in-person today, I am overwhelmed by the bravery, resilience and heroism of those who are defending our democracy by showing up to vote, working the polls, and reporting on this election,” Mr. Evers tweeted.

The general perception is the Democratic presidential race has become little more than a formality to hand the nomination to Mr. Biden.

Charlie Cook, of the Cook Political Report, a nonpartisan election tracker, said Mr. Sanders is coming to grips with the idea that his presidential push — which spawned a political revolution and kicked off with a bang this election cycle — is effectively over.

“So he just has to come to terms with it, as do his supporters,” Mr. Cook said. “It’s like the Elizabeth Kubler Ross stages of grief, you have to give him time to get to acceptance.”

“As long as he isn’t attacking Biden, it doesn’t matter,” he said. “Besides, the campaign is frozen in place, frozen in a way that he cannot catch up.”

On the flip side, Mr. Cook said the campaign pause has allowed Mr. Biden to build a national campaign operation, which he had been lacking.

“The race is getting an unexpected and quite long intermission, then the show restarts,” he said.

Mr. Sanders has acknowledged the race is all but over. But he has refused to bow out, signaling he wants Mr. Biden to embrace more of his vision before he’s ready to endorse him.

While the Sanders push for a Medicare for All health care plan appears to be a bridge too far for Mr. Biden, he has embraced a watered-down version of Mr. Sanders’ push for tuition-free college and erasure of student debt.

Mr. Biden also has voiced his support for parts of Sen. Elizabeth Warren’s push to overhaul bankruptcy laws.

χ David Sherfinski contributed to this report.