Wisconsin is forging ahead with its April 7 primary despite the coronavirus pandemic and calls from some state leaders to postpone. It’s a critical state for both Republicans and Democrats in the 2020 presidential race. While in-person campaigning is off the table, both parties are figuring out how to get out the vote without gathering in person.
At early voting at Racine City Hall last weekend, voters had their temperature checked by a firefighter in a surgical mask before entering the building. Voter Carol Rawlinski even brought her own pen to fill out the ballot.
“Yes ma’am, I’m not upset at you for having your own pen," chuckled Kimberly Rice, a poll worker.
A squeeze of hand sanitizer and Rawlinski was on her way.
While these are unusual times, Rawlinski says some things about political campaigning haven’t changed: “I do get a lot of messages from both parties. It goes to our answering machine."
COVID-19, the disease caused by the new coronavirus, has meant an end to door-to-door canvassing and rallies or any visits altogether from presidential candidates President Donald Trump, former Vice President Joe Biden and Sen. Bernie Sanders. Instead, campaigning has gone totally virtual.
Trump’s reelection campaign is using an app so volunteers can call potential voters from home. Callers have a script about how Trump has handled the coronavirus outbreak. If they don’t get an answer, the app leaves a pre-recorded message from Trump’s daughter-in-law Lara Trump with guidelines to stay healthy from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Still, it’s not ideal, says Mark Jefferson. He heads the Wisconsin GOP.
"We still recognize that when people are able to talk at the doors and have face-to-face conversations, it is still the most effective way to dial down the animosity that people have towards this president when they watch cable news or something like that," Jefferson says.
But all of this online activity helps keep volunteers and voters from feeling isolated, says Ben Wikler, chair of the Wisconsin Democrats.
"Democracy is a group activity most of the time," he says. "So, the fact that we're all shut up in our own homes is very different. And what that has meant is ... the release on the pressure valve has been people going online, and talking to people on the phone, sending text messages, reaching out through social media."
"This is an area where Democrats have traditionally done better than Republicans — the early voting and the absentee ballot." - Bill McCoshen, GOP strategist
While there is limited in-person voting, many people are afraid to go to the polls. There’s been a record number of absentee ballot requests. And, that’s forcing Republicans to shift their get out the vote tactics, says Bill McCoshen, a GOP strategist.
"This is an area where Democrats have traditionally done better than Republicans — the early voting and the absentee ballot," he says. "It's not to say Republicans have been terrible at it, but Democrats have been better."
While Republicans have traditionally worried about fraud and mail-in ballots not being counted, McCoshen says this crisis is changing people’s minds.
“People are, were less confident their vote would count if they didn’t actually put it in the machine themselves. Well, now, they’re more worried about catching a virus if they go to the polling place, so getting them to return their ballots should be a lot easier this time around," he says.
It’s not clear whether one side will benefit from moving toward more mail-in ballots. Ultimately, the parties still have to motivate people to vote, says Democratic strategist Paul Maslin. He notes that’s actually something the Republicans did better in 2016.
"I think this is a jump ball to use ... probably bad to use a basketball reference since our poor Bucks can’t even play a game," laments Maslin.
At least for now, both Democrats and Republicans have to execute their plays virtually.
Editor's note: A portion of this audio is courtesy of the Bernie Sanders and Joe Biden campaigns.
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