Evers wrong to schedule election on a holiday

Even when it comes to something as simple as determining when an election should be held, politics creeps its ugly head into the process. We saw that in the 2018 election in Wisconsin when many counties, including La Crosse, held referendums asking whether marijuana would be legalized. Turnout was high, and democrats generally did well, and that wasn’t by accident. The thinking is a marijuana referendum would bring more young people to the polls, and young people are more likely to vote democrat. The controversy over when elections should be scheduled is back in Wisconsin, now that Governor Tony Evers has scheduled a special election for Wisconsin’s 7^th Congressional district on January 27^th. Congressman  Sean Duffy has retired due to family medical issues, so a special election is needed to fill his seat. That could be held just about any time, and the Wisconsin Elections Commission suggested a number of dates to Evers. But the Governor chose January 27^th, meaning a possible primary would be held on December 30, which happens to be not only a Monday, but also the Jewish holiday of Hanukkah. Presumably, Evers hopes the election would get lower turnout, although its not even clear how that would benefit his party. We shouldn’t be playing politics with elections. We should schedule them when it is most convenient for voters to get to the polls. Evers knows that, but still has chosen to be petty for political partisanship.