The "election" held in Wisconsin today is something that this country will never live down. It was approved by the U.S. Supreme Court, even though that body will not meet together for its own safety, but decided in a partisan 5-4 that voters must come out and vote.
Wisconsin voters waiting in line outside their polling place, maintaining spatial distance and wearing masks. Some of them had an opinion on the fact that the election was being held during the pandemic.
One of the "highlights" of this election:
- Milwaukee (population 595,000, about 40% Black) had — get this — FIVE polling places.
- Madison (population 258,000, 7% Black) had 66 polling places.
Why was it so important for the election to be held in the middle of this pandemic? Because Wisconsin Republicans want to be sure their State Supreme Court stays in Republican hands, and the only way they can be sure that happens is through a low turnout election. After they lost the governorship in 2018, they know that high turnout = a loss for them.
If we ever get rid of Mafia Mulligan and (re)build democracy in this country, we have to go beyond restoring the Voting Rights Act. Wisconsin needs the VRA too. We need national voting rights with preclearance, automatic voter registration, and vote by mail.
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Chris Hayes was pretty scathing about the decision to hold the election in Wisconsin. Apoplectic might describe it. And oh. my. god. The interview with election expert Mark Elias is so frightening. He analogizes how Republicans and the administration may approach the November election to the way they appear to be approaching the Census: you can't stop it, but because you're in charge of it, you can monkeywrench until it's ineffective at counting the people you don't want to count.
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