Wisconsin judge elected amid coronavirus pandemic calls victory ‘bittersweet’ following an ‘uptick’ in state’s cases

Washington CNN — The Democrat who won a Wisconsin Supreme Court election earlier this month that was held despite strong calls to postpone it amid the coronavirus pandemic said in an opinion piece published Monday that her win is “bittersweet” following an “uptick” in the state’s cases. However, last week, Wisconsin Department of Health Services Deputy Secretary Julie Willems Van Dijk noted that several of those people “reported other possible exposures as well.” The election had been a point of contention between the Democrats and Republicans, with the GOP insisting it go on even as public health officials were urging Americans to stay home to avoid contracting the deadly virus. Karofsky wrote that the US Supreme Court, which ruled just before the election that ballots must be postmarked by election day on April 7, “erred” in its decision, which she said “they didn’t have the time to think through and that caused tremendous confusion in my state.” “I find it unconscionable that Wisconsin voters were forced to choose between their safety and having their voices heard in our democracy. “Courts making partisan decisions, sending people out to vote in the middle of a global pandemic, is exactly what’s wrong with a judiciary that has become too political, and I think a deliberate attempt to suppress the vote in Wisconsin.” The newly elected justice also blasted a decision by the state’s Supreme Court to halt Evers’ order postponing the election until June, saying that both that ruling and the US Supreme Court’s ruling “are seen as being along partisan lines, with allies of Republicans refusing to delay the election.” Karofsky also noted that “every member of the Wisconsin Supreme Court had already voted early.