FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
December 16, 2019
MILWAUKEE–Shauntay Nelson, Wisconsin State Director of All Voting is Local, issued the following statement in response to the Ozaukee County Circuit Court ruling to immediately remove 234,000 Wisconsin voters from registration lists:
“We are alarmed that one decision could strip away the voting rights of 234,000 Wisconsinites — simply because these voters did not respond to a single mailer. Voter purges pose a distinct threat to our democracy, causing disproportionate harm to the very voters who have long been disenfranchised: people of color, low income voters and those who move frequently. This flawed ruling doesn’t provide enough time or notice for voters to comply.
“We support the Wisconsin Elections Commission’s efforts to ensure voters are not wrongfully removed from the rolls. We also support all efforts at the state and municipal levels to use innovative ways to contact voters beyond insufficient U.S. Mail.”
All Voting is Local intends to reach voters where they are to alert them to check and update their registrations through such tactics as digital ads and text messages, as the campaign has done nationwide where voter purges threaten the right to vote. In 2018, All Voting is Local sent text messages to 384,444 voters in Ohio who were in the pipeline to be purged. Of the voters contacted, 62,479 people updated their registration and cast a ballot on Election Day.
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All Voting is Local fights to eliminate needless and discriminatory barriers to voting before they happen, to build a democracy that works for us all. It is a collaborative campaign housed at The Leadership Conference Education Fund, in conjunction with the American Civil Liberties Union Foundation; the American Constitution Society; the Campaign Legal Center; and the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law. For more information about All Voting is Local, visit https://allvotingislocal.org and follow us on Twitter @votingislocal.