Democrats Sue Wisconsin to Extend Voting: Campaign Update

(Bloomberg) -- The Democratic National Committee and Democratic Party of Wisconsin filed a lawsuit to extend a deadline for voter registration and mailing absentee ballots for the state’s April 7 primary in response to the coronavirus outbreak.

Wednesday is the deadline for online and mail-in voter registration in Wisconsin, and the lawsuit seeks to extend it to April 3, according to a release. The suit also asks state election officials to allow more time for mailing in absentee ballots while suspending identification requirements to register and request absentee ballots for the duration of the outbreak.

“By implementing these measures, the state can ensure that Wisconsinites’ right to vote is not infringed upon during this extraordinary and unprecedented time,” the DNC and state party said.

Five states have already delayed their primaries because of the outbreak, and DNC Chairman Tom Perez has urged states that have yet to hold their vote to expand vote-by-mail and absentee voting options.

In Ohio, where state officials invoked a health emergency to close the polls on Tuesday, the state Democratic Party has asked the Ohio Supreme Court to prevent the state from setting a new primary date on June 2 and to order that anyone who has not yet voted be allowed to cast an absentee ballot with no in-person voting.

Weld Drops 2020 Bid With Warning About Deficit (3:59 p.m.)

Former Massachusetts Governor Bill Weld has dropped his longshot bid to challenge President Donald Trump for the Republican nomination.

In an email announcing he would suspend his campaign Wednesday, Weld had a few parting thoughts about the need to address climate change, and the importance of immigration, among other issues.

Weld doesn’t mention the coronavirus pandemic or the economic crisis that it’s sparked.

He does take a strong stance against deficits even as economists across the political spectrum are urging the federal government not to hold back on spending in order to slow the worsening economic conditions caused by responses to the coronavirus.

“Federal budget deficits of over a trillion dollars per year are irresponsible,” he writes. “There is no such thing as ‘the Government’s money’: there is only taxpayers’ money.”

Biden Email Prematurely Dubs Him President (2:42 p.m.)

Joe Biden isn’t just ready to declare himself the Democratic nominee. He’s also ready to start measuring the drapes in the Oval Office.

The Biden campaign sent out an email Wednesday with a photo of the former vice president above the words “President Biden.”

“After victories last night in Arizona, Florida, and Illinois, we are one step closer to being able to say ‘President Biden!’” the email said.

The email also featured a campaign logo that said simply “Biden President,” leaving out the traditional “for” between the two words.

Although Biden has an all-but insurmountable lead in delegates, he still faces Bernie Sanders in the primary, not to mention President Donald Trump in the general election.

Americans Sharply Divided on Virus, Survey Says (2:06 p.m.)

Americans are sharply divided along partisan lines about the threat of coronavirus and President Donald Trump’s handling of it.

According to a Pew Research Center survey released Wednesday, 79% of Democrats believe Trump is not taking the virus seriously enough, while only 22% of Republicans said they feel the same.

The survey also found that 76% of Republicans believe the news media is exaggerating the risks of coronavirus, while only 49% of Democrats said they felt the same.

And 59% of Democrats said the outbreak is a major threat to the health of the U.S. population, compared with 33% of Republicans did. In light of the recent record plunges in the stock market, however, both parties generally agreed on the virus’s effects on the economy, with 77% of Democrats and 62% of Republicans thinking that it is a threat.

The survey was conducted March 10-16 among 8,914 U.S. adults through a Pew panel. The margin of error is 1.6 percentage points.

Coming Up

Alaska and Hawaii will hold Democratic primaries on April 4, while Wyoming will hold Democratic caucuses.

(Disclaimer: Michael Bloomberg, the founder and majority owner of Bloomberg LP, also sought the Democratic presidential nomination. He endorsed Joe Biden on March 4.)

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