Former President Barack Obama spoke out Friday against Wisconsin holding its primary election as planned this week despite health risks posed by the coronavirus pandemic.

Former President Barack Obama spoke out Friday against Wisconsin holding its primary election as planned this week despite health risks posed by the coronavirus pandemic.
“No one should be forced to choose between their right to vote and their right to stay healthy like the debacle in Wisconsin this week,” Mr. Obama said from his Twitter account.
“Everyone should have the right to vote safely, and we have the power to make that happen. This shouldn’t be a partisan issue,” Mr. Obama tweeted. “Let’s not use the tragedy of a pandemic to compromise our democracy. Check the facts of vote by mail.”
Mr. Obama’s tweets were accompanied by news articles about the recent primary in Wisconsin, where in-person voting took place Tuesday despite a statewide stay-at-home order issued as a result of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, as well as the concurrent effort to expand mail-in voting prior to November’s presidential election taking place.
Gov. Tony Evers, a Democrat, had issued an executive order on Monday suspending in-person voting in Wisconsin and moving the primary to June 9 in place of holding it during the public health crisis. He was quickly challenged in court by Republicans, however, and ultimately the election took place as planned after a ruling from the state supreme court.
The Wisconsin Department of Health Services subsequently said Friday that COVID-19, the highly infectious respiratory disease caused by the coronavirus, could have been potentially contracted by Wisconsinites “while waiting to vote, casting their vote or working the polls.”
Health officials are “monitoring this situation and expect to see any cases from exposure on April 7 begin to appear next week,” the department said in a statement.
President Trump has led fellow Republicans in opposing efforts to expand mail-in voting while more states to prepare to host primary elections leading up to November.
“Republicans should fight very hard when it comes to state wide mail-in voting. Democrats are clamoring for it. Tremendous potential for voter fraud, and for whatever reason, doesn’t work out well for Republicans,” he said Wednesday on Twitter.
Among the articles shared by Mr. Obama on Twitter was a response from The Times, entitled: “Does Vote-by-Mail Favor Democrats? No. It’s a False Argument by Trump.”
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