In response to Governor Walker’s recent plans to again attack voting rights, members of the African-American Civic Engagement Roundtable, joined by Mayor Tom Barrett, Neil Albrecht (Executive Director of the city of Milwaukee’s Election Commission), State Representative Sandy Pasch, State Representative Jon Richards, and other community partners held a press conference on Wednesday morning to speak out against public comments made by Walker that support the elimination of same day registration in Wisconsin.
“Increasing the efficiency of elections and ensuring access to voting should be a priority for Wisconsin’s legislators. Eliminating same day registration would reduce Wisconsin’s exceptional voter turnout and present unnecessary obstacles to voting, particularly for students. I applaud the efforts of Milwaukee’s African American Civic Engagement Table and other groups that are stepping forward in protest of this restrictive and needless change to elections,” said Mayor Barrett.
“I urge Governor Walker and the legislature to stop attacking democracy. Wisconsin has historically had a very high voter turnout as opposed to many other states. Same day registration is one of the main reasons for our high turnout. It needs to be protected. Our elected officials should be working to expand the electorate, not suppress it,” said Mike Wilder, Director of the African-American Civic Engagement Roundtable, and a member of the staff of CItizen Action of Wisconsin.
In the November 6th general election, Wisconsin’s turnout rate of eligible voters was 70.14 percent. According to the Government Accountability Board (GAB), this was the fourth highest since records have been kept.
Full Article: Citizens unite to defend same day voter registration | Milwaukee Courier Weekly Newspaper.