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Milwaukee voters and organizers are worried about disenfranchisement, especially of black and brown people, heading into Wisconsin's pandemic election. More here. Check it out.
https://milwaukeenns.org/2020/04/06/concerns-of-disenfranchisement-intensify-as-black-and-brown-voters-weigh-voting-during-the-coronavirus/
https://milwaukeenns.org/2020/04/06/concerns-of-disenfranchisement-intensify-as-black-and-brown-voters-weigh-voting-during-the-coronavirus/
“I am a faithful voter for everything. Voting is very important to me. But it’s not number one right now under the conditions that we’re living in," said Paula Durrell, a 64-year-old immunocompromised resident of Milwaukee's far Northwest Side. /2 https://milwaukeenns.org/2020/04/06/concerns-of-disenfranchisement-intensify-as-black-and-brown-voters-weigh-voting-during-the-coronavirus/
In Milwaukee, the usual 180 polling sites have been reduced to just five voting centers due to an extreme shortage of poll workers. In-person voting is set to proceed tomorrow. /3 https://milwaukeenns.org/2020/04/06/concerns-of-disenfranchisement-intensify-as-black-and-brown-voters-weigh-voting-during-the-coronavirus/
In addition to the presidential primary, Milwaukee’s next mayor, county executive, city comptroller, city attorney, state supreme court justice and other local offices, as well as a major referendum for the city’s public schools, are all on the ballot. /4 https://milwaukeenns.org/2020/04/06/concerns-of-disenfranchisement-intensify-as-black-and-brown-voters-weigh-voting-during-the-coronavirus/
“That decision to not do something, in all of these weeks that we knew this would be a crisis, was a decision too, to leave our most vulnerable behind and to disenfranchise these voters,” said Maya Neal of @LITMKE. /5 https://milwaukeenns.org/2020/04/06/concerns-of-disenfranchisement-intensify-as-black-and-brown-voters-weigh-voting-during-the-coronavirus/
“The main concerns are that leaders in Wisconsin are shuttering so many polling places & have not loosened absentee voting requirements enough to make sure that all voters will have equitable access to the ballot box," said Kevin Morris of @BrennanCenter. https://milwaukeenns.org/2020/04/06/concerns-of-disenfranchisement-intensify-as-black-and-brown-voters-weigh-voting-during-the-coronavirus/
Grassroots leaders in Milwaukee have said that the adjustments to the election have not gone far enough, will disproportionately impact voter turnout in Milwaukee neighborhoods, and will put residents’ health and safety at risk. /7 https://milwaukeenns.org/2020/04/06/concerns-of-disenfranchisement-intensify-as-black-and-brown-voters-weigh-voting-during-the-coronavirus/
“The failure to postpone the election is a massive piece of voter suppression,” said Jack Norman of @voces_milwaukee. “However much we want people to vote, we can’t go against the public health necessity and urge people to vote in person.” /8 https://milwaukeenns.org/2020/04/06/concerns-of-disenfranchisement-intensify-as-black-and-brown-voters-weigh-voting-during-the-coronavirus/
“With the health disparities in Milwaukee, compounded with the political inequities and the economic inequities, it’s really a burden for the black community right now,” said Rick Banks of @blocbyblocMKE on holding an election during a pandemic. /9 https://milwaukeenns.org/2020/04/06/concerns-of-disenfranchisement-intensify-as-black-and-brown-voters-weigh-voting-during-the-coronavirus/
. @propublica recently published this story about the virus’s disproportionate impact on black residents in Milwaukee, who make up 46% of Milwaukee County’s coronavirus cases but only 26% of the county’s population. /10 https://www.propublica.org/article/early-data-shows-african-americans-have-contracted-and-died-of-coronavirus-at-an-alarming-rate
Reporters at @journalsentinel have also looked at the ways the coronavirus has hit Milwaukee's black communities hardest. (Some of these amazing local reporters are currently furloughed and not working during the week of the pandemic election.) /11 https://www.jsonline.com/story/news/2020/04/03/african-americans-milwaukee-hit-hard-coronavirus/5111950002/
“It is vital that we find ways to make sure that our vote is not neutralized, watered down or weakened by any of the measures that have taken place,” said community activist Ray Nitti. "It’s like a double-edged sword. You want people to vote, but you don’t want them to risk it."
If you're confused about how to vote in Milwaukee for tomorrow's primary election, I tried to answer the most common questions here. Let me know if you have more. https://milwaukeenns.org/2020/04/06/what-you-need-to-know-to-be-able-to-vote-in-april-7-election-in-milwaukee/
