Despite a now-raging pandemic, Wisconsin remains the only state still insisting on holding their April presidential primary, state, and local elections as scheduled. They will take place as usual, on April 7.
You can blame both Democratic Gov. Tony Evers and the Republican-held legislature for that. Evers asked lawmakers to at least extend early voting and distribute mail-in ballots to every voter; the Republicans said no. Whether the refusal to even expand vote-by-mail during a pandemic requiring Americans to avoid crowded public places like polling sites is an effort to intentionally sabotage election turnout to boost conservative candidates depends on who you ask, but the "sabotage" part doesn't seem to be a question. Election Day is looking like it's going to be a complete disaster.
Facing a "massive shortage of poll workers," The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel now reports that Evers will be calling in the Wisconsin Army National Guard to help staff the polls. That will not be enough to avoid closing some polling places, which will both confuse voters and worsen crowds at remaining sites. The Sentinel also reports Evers is asking a federal judge to force the suspension of the state's photo ID requirements, the requirement that mail-in votes be signed by a witness (again, we are in a damn pandemic), and to extend deadlines.
Given that the election is in six days, all of this is likely to be insufficient. What the state's elected officials are thinking in not delaying an election day as every other April-voting state has done remains a mystery, but Wisconsin has become a haven for crooked dealings and maladministration since former Gov. Scott Walker and allies made a wreck of the place. Holding legitimate elections remains very far down the list of legislature concerns—to put it mildly.