KENOSHA – Local voters, community and faith leaders as part of a Wisconsin Voting Rights Coalition are set to protest outside the so-called Election Integrity Forum on Monday, May 23, condemning Forum participants and Republicans for using their influence to try to mislead voters and spread lies about the 2020 election results.
The ‘Election Integrity Forum’ — led by a self-titled ‘non-partisan’ group consisting exclusively of Republicans — is the latest in a string of local GOP-led or supported attempts to suppress the voices of Black, brown, disabled, older, and working voters, and limit their access to the ballot box.
Advocates will raise their voices and educate the public on right-wing disinformation campaigns while demanding Wisconsin leaders make it easier for people to vote, not harder, by expanding early voting access and protecting ballot drop boxes.
The action will include local voters involved in a Wisconsin Voting Rights Coalition, which is composed of organizations including Souls to the Polls MKE, SEIU Wisconsin, MASH, Fight for $15 and a Union, Voces De La Frontera, Power to the Polls, Poor People’s Campaign and others plan to attend. Bearing signs that read “Our Voice, Our Vote” and “Voters Decide,” coalition members will raise the alarm on the severity of the GOP voter suppression attempts currently underway across our state.
EVENT DETAILS
WHAT: Action outside of the ‘Election Integrity Forum’ to denounce voter suppression attempts and educate the public on GOP-led disinformation campaigns.
Action to follow current COVID-19 safety protocols.
WHO: Local voters, faith leaders and community members with a Wisconsin Voting Rights Coalition
Coalition includes Souls to the Polls MKE, SEIU Wisconsin, MASH, Fight for $15 and a Union, Poor People’s Campaign, Power to the Polls, Voces De La Frontera
WHEN: Monday, May 23, 2022 at 5pm CT
WHERE: Parkway Chateau – 12304 75th Street, Kenosha, WI 53142
VISUALS: Participants holding letters that read, “VOTERS DECIDE,” signs stating “Our Voice, Our Vote”
BACKGROUND
On January 13, Judge Michael Bohren of Waukesha County sided with the right-wing, anti-voting rights institution Wisconsin Institute for Law and Liberty (WILL) in ruling that absentee ballot drop boxes are illegal under Wisconsin state law. The decision came as Republicans and their allies aim to further restrict access to the ballot and roll back voting rights ahead of the 2022 election.
Judge Bohren announced his plan to issue his written order that formally put this ban into effect during a January 19 hearing and ordered the Wisconsin Elections Committee to comply with this decision by January 27. On January 24, the Wisconsin Appeals Court decided to stay this lower court ruling that banned the use of ballot drop boxes in the state.
But on February 11, the Wisconsin Supreme Court voted 4-3 to remove the stay and allow the lower court order to go into effect that bans ballot drop boxes in the state’s April election. The legality of ballot drop boxes in the November election remains uncertain.
The Supreme Court ballot drop box ban presents an ominous sign for the future of voting in the state. Key local Republicans have been ruthless in their attempts to upend Wisconsin’s nonpartisan elections ahead of the midterms, filing over a dozen bills to modify the way our elections are run, many targeting the Wisconsin Elections Commission.
