Wisconsin voters said no on Nov. 3 to a proposed state constitutional amendment on worship gatherings during emergencies, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reports. The measure, known as the freedom to worship amendment, failed 52% to 48%, according to unofficial results at the time the New York Times called the race at 12:47 a.m., with 95% of the vote in. Because it failed, state and local health officers keep their authority to limit gatherings in future states of emergency.
The question asked whether government could close churches, synagogues, mosques and other places of worship during a state of emergency, such as a future pandemic, even when businesses, schools and other places were closed. Religious groups that backed the amendment stressed that it would not have required places of worship to stay open. It would have let each church decide, rather than the government.
The proposal grew out of the stay-at-home orders in the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Journal Sentinel reports. Republicans in the Legislature first tried to pass a law barring public health officers from closing churches. Gov. Tony Evers vetoed it, saying it would take away existing tools that state and local public health officials use to prevent and suppress the virus. Republicans, who control the Legislature and can place referendums on the ballot, have used constitutional amendments in recent years to enact policies Evers had blocked.
Two other questions on the same ballot passed. One limits the governor's partial-veto power and was approved 50.7% to 49.3%, as of Wednesday morning with about 95% of results in. The other, which supporters call the Equality Amendment, bars government and schools from giving preferential treatment based on race through affirmative action or DEI programs, and it stood at 56% yes to 44% no. The Journal Sentinel notes that Wisconsin has not split its results on constitutional amendments on the same ballot since April 1975, citing the Wisconsin Blue Book.
Churches in Wisconsin can still meet as they did before the vote. Hebrews 10:25 speaks to why believers gather, and that call does not depend on any ballot. Pray for wisdom for the health officers who hold this authority, and for the congregations who gather under it.
Read Hebrews 10:25
