A new message from your friends at People For the American Way.

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[ [link removed] ]Wisconsin voters risk health waiting on line in face masks



PFAW Member,

What happened this week in Wisconsin was an outrage. A devastating example
of the Right’s obsession with holding onto power by any means necessary,
even if those means run roughshod over Americans’ fundamental rights and
endanger tens of thousands – if not many, many more – American lives.

To recap: State Republican lawmakers – backed up by the right-wing
majorities on both the Wisconsin and the U.S. Supreme Courts – refused to
push back Tuesday’s election (as many other states have done with their
primaries) or extend absentee voting, all in a naked attempt to win by
reducing voter turnout, especially in minority communities and the
Democratic stronghold of Milwaukee.

Voters were forced to choose between breaking the state’s “stay at home”
order and risking their health (or even lives), as well as the health of
others and the further spread of COVID-19, or be denied their right to
vote.

This is the ruthlessness we’re up against. It seems downright sociopathic,
but Trump Republicans’ animating principle of holding onto power at ANY
cost is reaching new lows that most of us wouldn’t be able to fathom if we
weren’t witnessing it in real time.

We need to win in 2020. Plain and simple.

We need to hold far-right leaders accountable and we need to wrest power
away from them – in the states, in the White House, and in the U.S.
Senate, which also has everything to do with the courts – the only way we
can: BY VOTING THEM OUT.

Our electoral programs are in full swing. Wisconsin is one of our highest
priority target states. And we need YOU to be part of this fight by
helping to fund our urgent efforts with a 3X-MATCHED donation TODAY.



[ [link removed] ]Please chip in right now to defeat Trump Republicans and, today, you’re
impact in the fight will be TRIPLED>>



In an interview on MSNBC, one Wisconsin woman in line to vote expressed
her shock and sadness that GOP officials would put citizens in this
situation for political gain and implored them to “stop playing politics
with our lives.”

The New York Times’ “On Politics” update on Tuesday evening covered the
situation that day in Wisconsin well. Just look at some of these accounts:

What we do know is that in Milwaukee, the biggest city in the state and
the base of Democratic voters in Wisconsin, voting has been a public
health and civic catastrophe.

At each of the city’s five polling sites (in a normal year, there are 180
locations), voters waited more than two hours to cast their ballot, as
lines of hundreds of people stretched for blocks.

…

A lot of voters did not want to go to the polls: Nearly 1.3 million
absentee ballots were requested through Monday, though only about 860,000
had been returned. And stories poured in today of voters unable to cast
their ballots.

* Hannah Gleeson, 34, is a health care worker who lives in Milwaukee, is
17 weeks pregnant and recently tested positive for the coronavirus.
She requested a ballot more than a week ago, but it never arrived in
the mail, and she cannot vote in person or she would be putting
hundreds at risk.
* Marcelia Nicholson is a supervisor and vice chair for Milwaukee County
and is up for re-election today. But she was recently exposed to the
virus and her absentee ballot was delayed in arriving, so she may not
get to vote for herself.
* Jill Swenson, 61, a literary agent, is self-quarantining in her
Appleton home. A widow, she lives alone, has a chronic lung disease
and fears contracting the coronavirus. She requested an absentee
ballot, but is unable to find a witness to sign her ballot. “I don’t
know anyone who has been self-isolating who could be a witness for
me,” she said.
* Laura Arvold’s rural Oneida County home has been a refuge for an
immunocompromised relative who moved temporarily from Milwaukee. Amid
the pandemic and the governor’s “safe at home” order, and lawsuits
from liberal-leaning groups, she and her husband thought the election
would be postponed, and didn’t request a ballot in time.



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The Times also had their Wisconsin readers write in with more personal
stories leading up to Election Day…

From a woman in Cambridge, WI:

My husband and I requested absentee ballots and never received them. We
are seniors who always vote and today we will not vote. Human lives are at
stake and the safe thing to do is to stay in place and not vote. It is a
sad day in Wisconsin and our representatives did not do the honorable act
by standing by the governor and postponing the election. Then the
Wisconsin Supreme Court also failed Wisconsin.

From a poll worker from Brookfield, WI:

I am a poll worker and will be responsible for counting/validating
absentee ballots at tomorrow’s election. I was relieved initially to see
that Tony Evers, our governor, had been successful at postponing the
election. Shortly after, I got the call: It was back on. I am a Democrat,
and very nervous about going in tomorrow. I am 62 with no health issues
but I understand the gravity of the situation. I feel responsible to our
democracy to support this process but I’m very conflicted. Initially I
requested an absentee ballot but never received the ballot in the mail.
After waiting 11 days, I went into our clerk’s office to vote early.

An election worker in Milwaukee:

I am sick from the idea that Wisconsin’s Republican leaders believe that
winning a 10-year seat on the Supreme Court is worth endangering so many
lives, let alone mine. That is the only reason this election will be
conducted in person tomorrow.

From a voter in Oshkosh, who titled her letter, “The least safe thing most
of us will do this week”:

I was at my polling place when the polls opened at 7, and there was
already a line of people, most of whom had requested an absentee ballot a
couple of weeks ago. The poll workers were doing their best to wipe down
the voting stations and to stay safe, but there were multiple times when
people stood too closely without realizing it, and one person accidentally
sneezed on the check-in desk. This was the least safe thing most of us
will do this week. I have been so careful, and I may have just negated all
my efforts to keep myself and my family safe because I needed to vote.
There was generally a feeling of frustration and resignation at the polls
— but also feelings of defiance and suspicion of authority — and that is
not the spirit that we should be fostering in our communities right now.

This is not an exaggeration: Republicans are endangering lives – all of
our lives, because of the nature of how this virus spreads – to suppress
the vote.

If you’ve had enough then it’s time to get in this fight.

Right now, all online donations will be 300%-MATCHED!



[ [link removed] ]Chip in right away and let’s defeat Trump Republicans and save our
democracy>>



Thanks for everything. Your support has never been more necessary or more
appreciated.

-- Ben Betz, Digital Director



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