Robin Vos’ election protective gear was available to poll workers in Burlington, but not all of Wis.

After Republicans fought to keep Wisconsin’s April 7, 2020 election on track as planned amid the coronavirus outbreak, Assembly Speaker Robin Vos worked at a polling place in his district covered head to toe in protective gear.

Vos, R-Rochester, volunteered to work at a Burlington polling site after thousands of poll workers across the state stayed home to avoid potential exposure to the coronavirus. The election occurred despite efforts by Democrats to avoid in-person voting, and as health officials warned against such gatherings in the middle of a pandemic.

"You are incredibly safe to go out," Vos told the Racine Journal Times on Election Day.

Vos’ garb drew swift criticism from voters who say the Republican-controlled Legislature forced the state to hold an unsafe election. One Facebook post shared more than 4,000 times articulated that anger.

"The election workers he forced to work today do not have equivalent protection," the April 7, 2020 post stated.

This post was flagged as part of Facebook’s efforts to combat false news and misinformation on its News Feed. (Read more about our partnership with Facebook.) 

The City of Burlington provided workers at its one in-person polling site with the same gear that Vos wore. But many poll workers across the state did not have that same level of protection.

Let’s see where the Facebook claim lands.

Quick reminder: The April 7 election took place after Democratic Gov. Tony Evers tried first to move the election to all mail, but the Republican-controlled Legislature rebuked his request and ended a special session without action.

Evers then issued an executive order that would have delayed in-person voting until June. Vos and Republicans took the matter to the state Supreme Court, where the conservative majority reversed the order hours later.

Now, back to the Facebook post.

A video from the Journal Times, along with photos that circulated on social media, show Vos wearing a face mask, gloves and protective gown. When asked about his personal protective equipment (PPE), a staffer for Vos referred PolitiFact Wisconsin to a tweet by the Assembly speaker.

"A requirement for working at the polls was to wear PPE to protect the public and the workers," Vos tweeted. "EVERY single person working at the polling place wore the same gear, not just me."

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Derrick Van Orden

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You can vote in-person absentee at your clerk’s office on Monday before Election Day.

Burlington City Administrator Carina Walters said the city consolidated two in-person voting locations into a single drive-thru site at its Department of Public Works garage. The city received PPE from the Racine County Emergency Operations Center, plus some from the Burlington Fire Department.

Burlington provided all poll workers with the same equipment Vos wore and also took their temperatures before and after shifts, Walters said.

"Our PPE policy for the day was to treat all persons as if they had COVID-19," she said.

Vos was not the only poll worker wearing a gown, mask and gloves in Burlington. Beyond that protection, Vos’ tweet also shows other workers (not him) wearing face shields. 

But the Facebook post did not specify Burlington. The original poster told PolitiFact Wisconsin he preferred to let it speak for itself.

So what kind of PPE did poll workers in other communities use?

The Wisconsin Elections Commission provided surgical masks and gloves to local clerks, along with sanitizing products. Gowns and face shields were not included, per the commission’s April 3, 2020 memo.

Milwaukee County provided municipalities with surgical masks and gloves but did not have access to gowns, said County Clerk George Christenson. Election workers in the city of Milwaukee had gowns, masks and gloves, but no eye shields, according to Election Commission Executive Director Neil Albrecht.

Madison put poll workers behind a glass barrier and offered gloves, along with face shields for people working in close proximity. Poll workers in Green Bay also sat behind a glass barrier and wore masks, but not gowns.

Vos’ wife, Michelle Litjens Vos, only wore gloves at a polling place in Rochester, the Journal Times reported.

That means many people in Wisconsin worked the polls on Election Day and didn’t look at all like Vos. Still, poll workers outside Burlington had access to some of the same equipment he did.

A Facebook post shared widely chastised Vos for wearing protective gear at the polls that "election workers he forced to work today do not have."

Other poll workers in Burlington wore the same gear as Vos, so he didn’t receive any special treatment there like the claim implies. Poll workers in other parts of the state had some – but not necessarily all – of the same equipment used by Vos.

That leaves us with a claim that contains some element of truth but ignores critical facts that would give a different impression. We rate it Mostly False.