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Temple Beth El Blog

Stand Up Against Voter Suppression

03/16/2021 06:35:24 PM

Mar16

by Rabbi Bonnie Margulis


As American Jews, we have always held the right to vote as a sacred obligation. We have fought alongside the African American community to ensure that everyone has equal access to the ballot box. In 2020, the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism made voter engagement a major national campaign. Temple Beth El jumped into this work with enthusiasm. This work paid off as we saw the greatest voter turnout nationwide in US history.

This turnout was a great victory for democracy. Sadly, that victory is now at risk, as anti-democratic forces in our state houses are doing all they can to restrict people’s ability to vote. Over 250 anti-voter bills have been introduced in 43 states in the last two months. Thirteen such bills are currently being proposed in our state legislature that will create steep barriers to exercising the right to vote.

Some of the more egregious elements in these bills include:

  • Forbidding the Wisconsin Election Commission from sending out absentee ballot applications to every voter, as they did for the November election.
  • Forbidding more than one dropbox in every community, regardless of the size of the community, and requiring the dropbox to be attached to the building where the city clerk’s office is located.
  • Forbidding employees in nursing homes from helping residents to vote, and requiring that the family of residents must be notified whenever special voting deputies come to the facility to register voters.
  • No longer allowing elderly, disabled, and indefinitely confined voters to request an absentee ballot for all upcoming elections; they would instead have to make the request and provide ID for each and every election. Anyone indefinitely confined would need to affirm their status under oath, and if they are under 65, the sworn statement would have to be signed by their health care provider. Further, anyone who identified as indefinitely confined between March 12, 2020 and November 3, 2020 would lose that status and have to reapply.

These are just a few of the many anti-democratic, anti-voter bills being proposed. Sadly, polls show that few people are aware of these measures, not just in Wisconsin but nation-wide. The best way to counter these extreme voter suppression efforts is to shine a spotlight on them. The more people become aware, the more there will be a public outcry.

Please help spread the word and raise your voices with your senators and Assembly members and tell them you are counting on them to protect our democracy and people’s right to vote!

For more information on these bills, visit the Wisconsin Democracy Campaign. To find your legislator, you can:

Also, don’t forget to vote on April 6! The Wisconsin spring election is coming up for nonpartisan officers such as school board members, alders, and judges; this year the state superintendent of schools is also up for election. Check out what’s on your ballot on the state MyVote website.

In Madison, voters will see a four-part referendum on the structure of city government. You will be asked about pay for alders, the size of the Common Council, term length for alders, and whether alders should be subject to term limits. You can read more and see an informative interview here.

 

April 26, 2024 18 Nisan 5784