When she’s asked about where Wisconsin stands among states on voter suppression, Anita Johnson doesn’t hesitate. “Oh, Wisconsin—it’s one of the 10 worst. Easily.” Johnson ought to know. She’s the Wisconsin Voter ID Coalition Coordinator for the national group VoteRiders, which helps individuals obtain photo identification so they can vote, offers voter education and forms coalitions to combat voter suppression. Its motto: “Votes Count. Be Counted.”
Voting is the one time every American is truly equal, whether we’re Donald J. Trump, Kim Kardashian or a high school senior casting their first vote after turning 18. Johnson believes strongly in that principle. She has been involved in organizing and election protection issues throughout her career, including serving on the Wisconsin Election Administration Council for the Government Accountability Board that oversaw elections. “My joy comes from making sure people know they can go to the polls and have an impact and know what they need to vote,” says Johnson. “I eat, sleep and breathe this. It’s all about helping people.”
Protecting Your Vote
In Wisconsin, a testing ground for rigging the vote to favor Republicans, that’s no easy task. Voting, the cornerstone of democracy, has become the cornerstone of a partisan battle. It’s not about who you vote for; at stake is whether you are even able to vote at all.
Not that long ago, voter suppression meant putting out negative information, often twisted if not entirely untrue, about an opponent designed to disgust their supporters enough to keep them home from the polls. Of course, that still happens. But under Gov. Scott Walker’s quest to keep control of state politics, Wisconsin Republicans have tried to pass some of the most onerous voting laws in the country, at times so outrageous that courts had to step in to stop it. Wisconsin under GOP control has become a leader in passing laws designed to stop groups of citizens that may disagree with them from voting.
With just more than two months until 2018’s high-stakes midterm elections (Tuesday, Nov. 6), here’s a primer on the various methods used to stop voting, how to protect your vote and, most importantly, what Wisconsinites can do to fight back against voter suppression.
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Current election news is dominated by the cybersecurity of elections after solid evidence has been revealed concerning tampering by Russians and other foreign entities, which poses a serious threat to democracy. Wisconsin, and Milwaukee in particular, has been cited as one of the big targets, with operatives using Facebook ads and other measures to sway the 2016 elections, along with an attempted but reportedly unsuccessful hack of Wisconsin’s voting system. Hillary Clinton, in a well-publicized interview with New York magazine, stated that her loss in 2016 was “aided and abetted by the suppression of the vote, particularly in Wisconsin.”
It’s shocking to see Republican leaders in Wisconsin (and nationally) not prioritizing election security. Nor was there any strong Republican opposition to the disgraceful dismantling of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 that outlawed discriminatory voting practices; it has been steadily chipped away at, and Trump’s Justice Department has backed away from enforcing its provisions. But maybe it’s not so surprising given that Wisconsin Republicans have spent the eight years under Walker implementing a laundry list of legislation designed to make it harder for groups of people they see as a threat to their agenda to vote.
Suppressing and Intimidating Voters
In Wisconsin, this current trend of voter suppression, following years of expanding voter rights, began about a decade ago and shifted into high gear after Walker was elected in 2011—long before Russian election tampering was a hot topic. Numerous national articles and research on voter suppression and intimidation have focused on Wisconsin. One group, Wisconsin Voices, assembled a list of 33 such changes since Walker took office in 2011.
Milwaukee took center stage in the statewide voter suppression debate after turnout decreased from 2012 to 2016 by some 41,000 votes—right after new photo ID requirements took effect. A former Republican staffer testified in court that GOP lawmakers were “giddy” about their photo ID law disenfranchising Democrats, and Congressman Glenn Grothman stated publicly that it would help cause Clinton to lose Wisconsin. Requiring photo IDs, along with many of the other changes, most notably disenfranchises people of color, students, the elderly, the disabled and poor Wisconsinites. Studies also show a disproportionate impact on women, and new information highlights disenfranchisement of transgender individuals.
Wisconsin’s photo ID law for voting was called the strictest in the nation when it passed in 2011, and it arrived without sufficient funding for voter education. It passed even though voter impersonation, the type of fraud it was designed to prevent, is more statistically rare than a person being struck by lightning. So, it isn’t surprising that VoteRiders’ Voter Stories page gets many of its testimonials on voting problems from people in Wisconsin.
Anita Johnson has helped numerous individuals get free state IDs, as well as offering presentations on voting at community groups, churches and elsewhere. One case that stands out in her mind was helping a 55-year-old homeless veteran get his free state photo ID. Locating his birth certificate was problematic, so, after a first rejection, he was told to “recreate all 55 years of his life.” They assembled every record and piece of information from his schools, relatives’ names, addresses, jobs, etc. and returned. Again, after another two-month wait, he got rejected. It came down to discovering the name on his birth certificate had been mispronounced by the midwife and written incorrectly, so, knowing that, they were finally able to get him a state ID.
That crusade took them seven months. Most cases, she notes, come down to knowing the law and ensuring it is followed. That and some quality time at the local Division of Motor Vehicles.
Johnson stresses that, by being armed with information on voting requirements, the petition process and the ability to register online—a “little known fact,” she says—the process can be smooth. She’s also working hard to resurrect Souls to the Polls. Johnson is currently working with 70 Milwaukee churches on increasing the African American vote with neighborhood canvassing and planned marches to polls on the two early voting Sundays before the Tuesday, Nov. 6, election.
In 2016, she says, voter suppression, including photo ID requirements, “played a huge part in stopping people from voting.” But she is optimistic that 2018 midterms will have more African Americans in Milwaukee out voting than even the presidential race did two years ago. “There will be an increase,” she predicts. “People are starting to realize what’s happening here.”
