Blogger Candidate Forum: Badgered In Wisconsin

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Hello Everyone:

Well. The Blogger Candidate Forum had hoped to report the results of the Wisconsin primary but as of right now, results will not be available until Monday.  Before The Candidate Forum goes any further, a friendly reminder that voter information is available at usa.gov.  Make sure you register to vote in time for the General Election on November 3, 2020.  Back to the post.  The deadline to for mail-in ballots was extended to the end of the week.  The results are moot point because today, Democratic nominee candidate Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT) announced that he was ending his campaign  

Honestly, who would have thought, last summer, that former VPOTUS Joe Biden (D-DE) would be the last Democrat left?  VPOTUS Biden now becomes the presumptive nominee and has begun the task of vetting potential running mates.  Perhaps The Candidate Forum will get its wish and we will have a VPOTUS-Senator Kamala Harris (D-CA) ticket?  It could happen.  The Wisconsin primary probably should have been postponed because of COVID-19 however state politics being what they are, the Republican controlled Wisconsin state legislature blocked an attempt by Democratic Governor Terry Evers to postpone the election.  Elections in the age of COVID-19: Go to the polls or risk infection?

Masked voters in Wisconsin
vox.com

The answer is not quite as obvious as you think.  Going to the polls on Election Day is a very ingrained part of American culture.  Although you can mail in your ballot, there is nothing like the communal experience of standing in line with fellow voters, stepping into the booth, and proudly taking a selfie once you are done.  Right now that joyous expression of democracy is in doubt because of COVID-19.  Even religiously following the Centers for Disease Controls Recommendations for protecting yourself may not be enough.  Justifiably Wisconsin voters--particularly voters of color who have a greater risk for infection--are furious with their state legislature for what some are calling a form of disenfranchisement.  Is it?

Map of Wisconsin
geology.com

The bitter dispute between the Wisconsin Republican legislature and its Democratic governor created a flurry of 11th-hour changes that forced voters to decide, vote in person or risk infection.  Further, where you live determined what yesterday was like for you.  If you lived in Milwaukee, the state's largest city, it was a fraught and frustrating exercise.  Milwaukee is home to almost 70 percent of the state's African American population.  Rashad Robinson, a spokesperson for Color of Change, told Vox,

For black people in Milwaukee, the fear is significant,... The black community in Milwaukee is facing the brunt of the coronavirous pandemic--accounting for over half coronavirus cases and 81 percent of related deaths. (vox.com; Apr. 7, 2020; date accessed Apr. 8, 2020)

Additionally, the lack of available poll workers meant that the number of voting centers dramatically from 180 to five for a city of 592,000 (mobile.twitter.com/@MollyBeck; Apr. 7, 2020; date accessed Apr. 8, 2020).  Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel reporter Molly Beck pointed out "there were 66 polling places open,... Madison and other areas also had more locations with drive-through voting" (vox.com; Apr. 7, 2020).  To give you some context, based on 2019 estimates: Madison, Wisconsin is 78.4 percent Caucasian and 6.8 percent African American. 

Voters in line in Milwaukee, Wisconsin
startribune.com

Rightfully angry by the actions of the Wisconsin legislature, supported by the state and United State Supreme Courts, NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund Sherrilyn Hill tweeted,

The WI legislature, the state Supreme Court & U.S. Supreme Court consigned these U.S. citizens to risking their lives to exercise their right to vote today,... Today's election is now legal, but it is democratically & morally illegitimate

Even before the bitter partisanship, the Wisconsin primary was not equal for all voters; "those with access to cars and transportation could drive to the polls and in some instances safely vote from their vehicles"  (vox.com; Apr. 7, 2020).  Further complicating the matter was the lack of clarity about options  Locations around Milwaukee offered curbside voting, but this information was not effectively communicated to the voters (Ibid).  The lack of information and the slap-dash nature of election changes definitely played a part in voters' decision whether to go to the pol.  One Wisconsin voter spoke to Vox, "she was worried about the risk physically going to a crowded location given the fact she has asthma.  It's too high-risk for me to go out to polling places" (Ibid).

Protesters at the state capital
Madison, Wisconsin
madison.com

The haphazard roll out of this election means that thousands of voters who wanted to participate, were effectively disenfranchised.  Vox reporter Ian Millhiser wrote, "many voters who had requested absentee ballots had yet to receive them as of Monday evening, meaning that people wouldn't be able to postmark them by the required Tuesday, April 7, deadline" (Ibid).  The Wisconsin Election Commission estimated that about 408,00 absentee ballots still had not been returned statewide as of yesterday (Ibid).

What this should tell us that there were those who could not leave the house to drop off their ballot at the nearest mailbox or post office; or go to the polls at all because of health concerns.  Thus could not fully participate in the election process.  Further, Wisconsin state election laws require a witness to sign the ballot, extremely hard to do when a voter is in self isolation.  

Kristen Clarke, the executive director of the Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, spoke to reporters on a conference call,

Voters are forced to make an impossible decision today: They are choosing between their health and losing their right to vote (Ibid)

Molly McGrath, ACLU voting rights campaign strategist, was more to the point,

Let's be totally clear: Voter suppression was happening in Wisconsin before Covid-19, through onerous voter ID requirements, gerrymandering, and attempted cuts to early voting,... Due to the pandemic, the disparities of voter suppression have reared their ugly heads right in our faces (Ibid)

What is the future?

Senator Amy Klobuchar (D-MN)
en.wikipedia.org

The future is Election Day, November 3 and instead of partisan bickering over virus relief packages, how about doing something to expand the vote-by-mail option?  As luck and timing would have it, Democratic Senators Amy Klobuchar (MN) and Ron Wyden (OR) and House Democrats are spearheading reforms.  Both senators helped secure $400 million in Congress' recent virus emergency relief funding to help the states begin or expand their vote-by-mail option.  Each state will get about $300 million. (Ibid)  The senators want to go further by mandating the states set a contingency plan for voting by mail before the November contest, "giving voters more choice and flexibility, and recruiting younger poll workers to protect older folks who volunteer at the polls.  That could take each state anywhere from $2 billion to $4 billion to do well, experts estimate" (Ibid)

Senator Klobuchar spoke to Vox, "Wisconsin could be a critical moment for the senators to make their case for voting-by-mail" (Ibid).  Expanding the vote-by-mail option does have bipartisan support of governors and she hopes that congressional Republicans will support the changes.  She said,

I think this could be a game changer for reforming some of our election systems,... It's not the game changer we wanted (Ibid)

Despite the bipartisan support, naturally congressional Republicans and the president are opposed to the idea.  Afraid that it would diminish their party's ability to win.  That is the calculus Republicans have made: By making it more difficult to vote or maintaining the status quo, they can win elections and maintain a majority.  Electoral victories over public health and well being. 

Results for the Wisconsin Primary will be in on Monday, not that there will be much to report but The Candidate Forum will report it nonetheless