NPR: Long Lines, Masks And Plexiglas Barriers Greet Wisconsin Voters At Polls

NPR: Long Lines, Masks And Plexiglas Barriers Greet Wisconsin Voters At Polls

"Wisconsin is the only state in the nation that has failed to step up and respond responsibly and safely to the current national health pandemic emergency," Jay Heck, director of voting rights group Common Cause in Wisconsin, said in a statement. 

After an 11th-hour scramble, Wisconsin forged ahead with its election Tuesday, despite widespread fears about the coronavirus outbreak and an ongoing stay-at-home order from the governor.

Though hundreds of thousands of voters cast absentee ballots ahead of time, many still turned out to vote in person Tuesday.

What they found: plenty of masks and cleaning supplies, jury-rigged Plexiglas barriers and long, socially distanced lines.

In some municipalities, longer lines were to be expected, due to a shortage of thousands of poll workers that led election officials to have to consolidate voting locations.

The city of Milwaukee, with a total population near 600,000, had just five polling places open on Tuesday, compared with about 180 during normal times. …

“Wisconsin is the only state in the nation that has failed to step up and respond responsibly and safely to the current national health pandemic emergency,” Jay Heck, director of voting rights group Common Cause in Wisconsin, said in a statement.