The line to vote at Washington High School in Milwaukee, Wis. on April 7, 2020 was over three blocks long, filling the sidewalks surrounding the school’s property. Wisconsin Watch
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Wisconsin forged ahead with in-person voting Tuesday, after the conservative state Supreme Court on Monday overturned Democratic Gov. Tony Evers’ order delaying the election. Following the advice of experts and the lead of other states, Evers had argued it was too dangerous for voters to venture out. 

The move to forge ahead has prompted residents who had not already voted by mail to make tough choices: risk their health, or give up their right to vote. Poll workers, meanwhile, described their extraordinary attempts to keep workers and voters safe, but some question whether those will be enough. 

Here are scenes and dispatches from Tuesday’s historic Election Day.

Editor’s note: This story was updated at 8:00 p.m. on Tuesday, April 7, 2020.

From Wisconsin Watch staff in the field:

Coburn Dukehart, digital and multimedia director, captured these scenes at polling locations in Door County, Wis.:

Top row: Poll workers sit behind newly built sneeze guards, provided by municipal services, while voting takes place in Sturgeon Bay, Wis. on April 7, 2020.
Bottom row, left to right: Jill Leonard, a volunteer poll worker, is seen at a polling place in Sevastopol, Wis. on April 7, 2020; Hand sanitizer and sneeze guards at a polling location in Sturgeon Bay, Wis. on April 7, 2020; Social distancing has been encouraged at polls, like here in Sevastopol, Wis. on April 7, 2020.

From associate director Lauren Fuhrmann:

Scenes from outside the polling location at Marshall High School in Milwaukee on April 7, 2020. A thunderstorm, with lightning, began to roll into the city in the late afternoon — voters handed out garbage bags to serve as rain ponchos and a barbecue truck offered a silver lining for those waiting in line outdoors.

Voters lined up outside of the polling location at Marshall High School in Milwaukee on April 7, 2020. Lauren Fuhrmann / Wisconsin Watch
A line of cars waiting in the curbside voting line for disabled voters outside of the polling location at Marshall High School in Milwaukee on April 7, 2020. Lauren Fuhrmann / Wisconsin Watch

From Bram Sable-Smith, WPR Mike Simonson Memorial Investigative Reporting Fellow:

Two people walk into Lapham Elementary School in Madison, Wis. on April 7, 2020. Lapham remained open as a polling place for the election. Bram Sable-Smith / Wisconsin Watch

Outside the polls:

The line to vote at Washington High School in Milwaukee on April 7, 2020 was over three blocks long, filling the sidewalks surrounding the school’s property. Lauren Fuhrmann / Wisconsin Watch
Poll workers directing a long line of voters at Washington High School in Milwaukee on April 7, 2020. Photo by Wisconsin Watch Lauren Fuhrmann / Wisconsin Watch
Caroline Hildebrand, left, talks to a poll worker with the National Guard outside of Riverside High School in Milwaukee, Wis. on April 7, 2020. Hildebrand has asthma and requested an absentee ballot, but she didn’t receive it in time and braved the polling place in spite of being high-risk of developing serious symptoms from COVID-19. Corrinne Hess / WPR
Dr. Elizabeth Perry stages a family caravan to express disappointment in the Wisconsin Supreme Court, in the parking lot of the Madison East High School polling place on April 7, 2020. Ruthie Hauge / The Cap Times
A poll worker in Madison works the polls amid the COVID-19 pandemic on April 7, 2020. Shawn Johnson/WPR
Poll worker Karen Lee Weidig helps facilitate drive-up voting Tuesday in front of the City-County Building in Madison. City officials have set up parking spaces in front of the building to help people with absentee voting. Steve Apps/Wisconsin State Journal
An absentee ballot drop off station outside of a Madison Public Library on Tuesday, April 7. Phoebe Petrovic/Wisconsin Watch

Once you’re inside:

A poll worker accepts a ballot from a voter in the hallway of South Division High School in Milwaukee on April 7, 2020. Jay Burseth / Wisconsin Watch
A polling location in Sister Bay, Wisconsin on the morning of Tuesday, April 7. Myles Dannhausen Jr./Door County Pulse

Republican Assembly Speaker Robin Vos, R-Rochester, who opposed Evers’ executive order to delay the election, reported to work at a polling place in his district Tuesday morning.

The nonprofit Wisconsin Center for Investigative Journalism (wisconsinwatch.org) collaborates with Wisconsin Public Radio, PBS Wisconsin, other news media and the UW-Madison School of Journalism and Mass Communication. All works created, published, posted or disseminated by the Center do not necessarily reflect the views or opinions of UW-Madison or any of its affiliates.

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