Photo via Facebook / Voces de la Frontera
It has been a long and arduous summer for those at the forefront of organizing for getting the vote out. Voces de la Frontera has been one of those organizations, holding events for voter registration, such as workshops that inform people of their rights. There have also been events hosted by artist collectives that involve the painting of signs, as well as murals, but the message was always clear. In order to restore democracy, it is important that everyone get out and vote. The efforts proved fruitful, and more Latinx votes were cast in this election.
The Latinx voter turnout in 2016 was 46.7% in Wisconsin, which was a 5.8% decrease from 2012. According to the American Election Eve poll, Latinx turnout has been 74% in 2020. According to the PEW research center, there are 183,000 eligible Latinx voters in Wisconsin, and 135,000 of them voted in this election, 77% of which voted for Joe Biden.
“We knew that the Latinx and multiracial youth vote would make the difference in this historic election, and they delivered", said Christine Neumann-Ortiz, executive director of Voces de la Frontera Action. Partnered with VDFLA is Wisconsin Voices, which administered one of three important tools to inform people—traditional phone banking, which targeted Latinx districts in the state. Through this, 765,000 calls were made to more than 200,000 potential voters. The other two programs were door-to-door canvassing where the electoral team knocked on over 56,000 doors, and a caravan campaign that ran from Racine to Madison, Milwaukee and Green Bay.
Voter Suppression
Ayuda Mutua MKE, a food bank on Milwaukee’s South Side, based in the building that houses Bounce, also ran a campaign of their own. Many bags and boxes are given out at the food bank, and in the months preceding the election, the Trump campaign began requiring information to be included in what was given out. While the "information" on these letters were mostly praise for Trump, the folks at Ayuda Mutua MKE included the truth of what was being donated, an explanation that the letters had nothing to do with the organization, as well as information on how to register to vote. This is something that was happening nationwide.
|
|
“We have been providing this support for years because there have been issues of disenfranchisement of Spanish-speaking voters for years, but we really ramped it up in 2020 because of Trump’s voter suppression tactics,” said Anna Dvorak, VDLF Elections Protection Coordinator. “We wanted to make sure that new Latinx voters were able to exercise their right to vote.” Leaders in the community assure that they are here to stay and will continue organizing in the communities where the win was delivered, as well as expanding their work into new districts.
VIA Community Development Center, formerly Layton Boulevard West Neighbors, also ran a campaign of help and information for the Latinx Vote. A hotline was secured for providing rides to the polls, as well as translations for Voter's rights information and providing PPE for voters. Guidance on requesting absentee ballots was provided all throughout voting season as well. Through the communication and outreach in the community, the win was secured and continued the long standing tradition of Wisconsin being a blue state. Though it was a red state for the last presidential election, the power of community persevered.
