Wisconsin Ballot Question 2 on Nov. 3 Would Bar Emergency Closures of Places of Worship
In Madison, Dane County, Wisconsin, voters statewide will decide Ballot Question 2 on November 3, a proposed constitutional amendment under which the state or its political subdivisions could not order the closure of, or forbid gatherings in, places of worship in response to a state of emergency, including a public health emergency. Baptist Press reported on October 29 that the amendment originated in response to government-mandated closures and restrictions on churches during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Question 2 would amend Article 1, Section 18 of the Wisconsin Constitution, the religious-liberty provision, to specify that neither the state nor a political subdivision may order the closure of or forbid gatherings in places of worship in response to an emergency at the national, state or local level, including a public health emergency. It would nullify Wisconsin Statute 252.02, which currently grants the Department of Health Services authority to close schools and forbid public gatherings in schools, churches and other places to control outbreaks and epidemics.
The Wisconsin Legislature approved the measure in both its 2023-2024 and 2025-2026 sessions, mostly along party lines as a Republican-backed joint resolution, the prerequisite for sending a constitutional amendment to voters.
Wisconsin Family Action is among the supporters. "In the past we have seen churches be forced to close while liquor stores remained open," the group's president, Daniel Degner, said in promoting the amendment. "Government overreaches its authority when it tells churches they cannot serve those in their community while it allows liquor stores to profit."
Opponents point to the government's responsibility to protect the public during emergencies. State Sen. Chris Larson, opposing the senate resolution that helped put the question on the ballot, said no one wants to prevent large, meaningful gatherings of neighbors, and virtual meeting technology means officials do not have to; but government officials have a responsibility to preserve the lives of their constituents, and the resolution, AJR 10, would prevent public health officers from doing their jobs, endangering countless lives in any future pandemic.
The backdrop is the pandemic-era fight in Wisconsin. Gov. Tony Evers declared a state of emergency and, alongside other community restrictions, limited church gatherings to 10 people. In May 2020 the Wisconsin Supreme Court ruled the restrictions unenforceable, finding the Evers administration had not followed proper procedures; Dane County then issued its own orders, first limiting church gatherings to 50 people and later to 25 percent of capacity. The Legislature countered in 2021 with Assembly Bill 1, which would have prevented health officials from closing churches and other houses of worship during the pandemic, but Evers vetoed it.
Question 2 appears on Wisconsin's November 3 ballot alongside two other proposed constitutional amendments; each question is decided separately and requires a majority of votes cast on that question to pass.
Related: 11月1日「受迫害教会祷告日」：美南浸信会等机构称全球约3.88亿基督徒生活在高压迫之下
Source: GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 图：美国威斯康星州麦迪逊市的伯特利路德教会（Bethel Lutheran Church）。w_lemay 摄，CC BY-SA 2.0，经 Wikimedia Commons。 / Bethel Lutheran Church in Madison, Wisconsin. Photo by w_lemay, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
