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Even before voting began, there were lines outside polling locations that stretched for several blocks. Some poll workers wore hazmat suits. Nearly every voter wore a face mask, removing it only to make small talk that reflected a combination of determination and grim humor about the extraordinary experience of voting amid a deadly pandemic. For thousands of people across Wisconsin on Tuesday, fears of the coronavirus outbreak did not stop them from participating in the state’s elections, where critical races such as the Democratic presidential primary and a key state Supreme Court seat were being decided. (Herndon and Burns, 4/7)

When Ellie Bradish and her husband showed up Tuesday morning at Milwaukee’s Riverside University High School, it was their third attempt to vote in Wisconsin’s spring elections. The absentee ballots they requested never showed up, she said. The couple tried to vote at a drive-through site last weekend, but the wait was two hours long. So they took their final chance in person despite fears of coronavirus infection, trying to keep a safe distance from the hundreds of others waiting in line. (Viebeck, Gardner, Simmons and Larson, 4/7)

“So many people across Wisconsin faced the impossible choice of casting their ballots and protecting themselves and their families. That’s a choice that no one should have to make,” Wisconsin Democratic Party Chair Ben Wikler said. “I think whatever the thought is of what Republican leadership did today, it’s going to change significantly in retrospect when people learn they were exposed to coronavirus at polling places. Weeks and months from now, this will be a completely different conversation." (Korecki, Montellaro and Oprysko, 4/7)

After a chaotic series of emergency orders and legal challenges, Wisconsin’s election unfolded Tuesday against the backdrop of a country waging war with a surging global pandemic. President Trump urged voters to head to polls tweeting "“Wisconsin, get out and vote NOW for Justice Daniel Kelly. Protect your 2nd Amendment." (Karson and Cunningham, 4/7)

If Wisconsin was a test case for voting in the age of coronavirus, it did not go well for many voters. Thousands were forced to congregate for hours in long lines on Tuesday with no protective gear. Thousands more stayed home, unwilling to risk their health and unable to be counted because requested absentee ballots never arrived. Voters reported being afraid, angry and embarrassed by the state’s unwillingness to postpone their presidential primary elections as more than a dozen other states have already done. (Peoples and Bauer, 4/8)

In a pair of extraordinary rulings on Monday, the highest courts in Wisconsin and the nation split along ideological lines to reject Democratic efforts to defer voting in Tuesday’s elections in the state given the coronavirus pandemic. Election law experts said the stark divisions in the rulings did not bode well for faith in the rule of law and American democracy. “Election cases, more than any other kind, need courts to be seen by the public as nonpartisan referees of the competing candidates and political parties,” said Edward B. Foley, a law professor at Ohio State University. “It is therefore extremely regrettable that on the very same day, on separate issues involving the same Wisconsin election, both the state and federal supreme courts were unable to escape split votes that seem just as politically divided as the litigants appearing before them.” (Liptak, 4/7)

Wisconsin’s chaotic primary may just be the beginning. Both major parties are preparing for a monthslong, state-by-state legal fight over how citizens can safely cast their ballots should the coronavirus outbreak persist through November’s election. The outcome of the court battles — expected to litigate mail-in voting rules, voter identification requirements and safe access to polls — may have a significant impact on how many people turn out to vote in hundreds of elections across the country, including the White House race. It will likely play out in presidential battlegrounds amid an already roiling debate over voting rights and protecting access to the ballot. (Riccardi, 4/8)

Former Vice President Joe Biden argued Monday that November’s presidential election should not be delayed, even if the coronavirus pandemic forces changes to the way voting is conducted. “I’d much prefer to have on — you know, in-person voting, but it depends. It depends on the state of play,” Biden told NBC’s “Today” show in an interview that aired Tuesday. “But we cannot, we cannot delay or postpone a constitutionally required November election.” (Forgey, 4/7)