Welcome to your Paul Revere show.
This is WAUK 540 AM 101 FM.
And I'm so, so excited to have back Representative Dora Drake.
Hello, Miss Drake.
Hello.
How are you, Mark?
I'm doing really, really well and I'm so excited because
You know, we have these new maps.
We have a new day coming in Wisconsin.
Yes, we
do.
I think folks like me are optimistic about what young people like you can do to help put our democracy on the right track.
But I'm so glad you could join us today.
And folks, we have an executive order.
225 signed by Governor Tony Evers declaring a special election for the fourth Senate district.
That special election is going to be on July 30th, 2024.
This seat was open when Senator Lena Taylor moved her public service from the realm of politics to judging.
And she's now a judge in Milwaukee County.
And the rumor is that Dora Drake is running and I thought we would have it out here first.
Is that the case?
Yes it is.
So tell folks why Dora Drake is running for the 4th Senate District.
No, absolutely.
And again, it's always great to be back on the show with you, Mark, and to your viewers.
So for folks that may not know who I am, my name is Dora Drake.
I currently represent the 11th Assembly District, and that is the north side of Milwaukee.
And if you think of Havenwood State Forest, that is the heart of the district and is the only urban forest.
I'm in our whole state of Wisconsin.
But prior to being elected, I was a social worker within the criminal justice system.
So running in 2020 and getting straight to work after being elected during the pandemic, it was important to me that anything that we pushed for at the state legislator, there would be tangible results for people and communities, right?
And so I can safely say some of the reasons why I'm running.
One, I have a track record of serving my constituents and getting things done.
I've been able to pass over 20 pieces of legislation, whether that was author, co-author, co-sponsor, and passing legislation, whether it's mixed use developments to increase housing opportunities for people that are seeking housing.
as well as investing in our charitable clinics, providing some relief for some of our small business owners during COVID.
So they had access to the grants, but also accountability measures.
You know, at the time it was also when George Floyd was, excuse me, killed.
And so even though I would love to see more initiatives with that, we still actually pass a law where now anyone that wants to transfer
you know they're currently in law enforcement the complaints that you have have to be just close now to each county prior to that law being signed that wasn't happening in our state and that's just in my first term um currently i'm the legislative black caucus chair for the whole state and i served as the vice chair for the study task force on truancy and so it was really important that issues that we've seen
you know, whether it's addressing, you know, tax on DEI, whether it's investing in our child care providers, especially in our youth, and really pushing criminal justice initiatives and public safety are some of the main reasons why I'm running for this seat.
I believe it's time that there is a next generation of service-oriented leadership that comes with this district.
And quite frankly, the whole same of walking in the state of Wisconsin.
And I believe that I'm the person who do it because I've had the track record.
My background in social work proves that I am someone that is dedicated to serving and protecting the lives of people that I represent.
And I believe I'm the person for the job.
You know, let's dig into some of this a little deeper.
What are the boundaries of the fourth district?
Just, you know, you know, folks, we have these new maps.
Door is running for the fourth Senate district.
There's 33 Senate seats Yes,
yep, there's 33 Senate seats
and half of those are up You know this election and you'll be filling a half term right
Yes, and so I can talk a little bit more about the district boundaries as well as what it actually means for the election cycle because
it is confusing.
So the fourth senate district is essentially the north side of Milwaukee, north of Hampton.
The fourth,
right?
Yes, the fourth senate district, the district that I am running for, is north of Hampton all the way pretty much to county boundaries, but it also has some parts that go southern towards
capitals, and then I also have Glendale and Shorewood.
So a very vast district.
So if you think of Lincoln Park, that's part of the district.
I said all of Glendale.
I'm trying to think of some other things.
Timmerman Airport, you know, that's in the district.
So those are some pinpoint things that people can relate to in terms of if they're in the district.
Now in terms of the election cycle,
Because there is a special election, this is the special election that's called on July 30th and July 2nd is to finish out the term of the 4th Senate District until essentially the start of the new term.
The election that's gonna be happening in August and November is for the next four years.
And so when we're talking about also making sure people know how to participate in our elections, being part of our democracy, there is a real chance of our state having not only fair maps, but also having adequate representation of what the interests are, especially for Democrats throughout this whole state.
And there is a pathway to potentially gain the majority in the Senate, if not this election cycle than in 2026.
And so.
for folks that are interested in trying to figure out when these elections are going to be happening.
The July 2nd election is the primary for the special election.
July 30th is for the special general.
And that's just to finish out the rest of the term.
The one in August and November is for the next four years.
And you won't have to be on that ballot.
I will have to be on the ballot as well.
So I'll be on the ballot both times.
Twice.
But okay.
Now let's let's focus in.
Your district is not just city of Milwaukee.
It
involves suburbs.
So it's a very, very diverse kind of community.
Yes.
And you touched on, you know, mentions of a tax on DEI, which is
How do you define DEI?
Yeah, for folks.
So DEI is an acronym for diversity equity inclusion.
And so when I mentioned the tax on DEI, I was referring to what we saw late last year with the UW system.
pretty much being held hostage for pay for their workers that the legislature already approved of but Speaker Voswell is holding it up saying we will not give you the funds for the increased pay for the workers there unless you remove the DEI positions.
And so unfortunately there was a deal that was brokered between the President J Rothman of the UW system.
with Speaker Voss and that decision went to the Board of Regents where they did eventually in turn take took the deal in order to get the funding.
They eliminated about good 40 or so positions that would be classified as diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives throughout the university university system.
So the how do you see those issues going forward?
You
know, I think I think there's
In my mind, there's a lot of confusion in different people's minds on what that is.
What is DEI?
And
frankly,
there is an unnecessary... I'll just put it bluntly.
I think Speaker Voss just ran sort of this white power line.
and was just ignoring just the basic history of Wisconsin and, you know, completely overlooking the benefits of really building a, you know, multiracial democracy that can survive going forward.
Right.
And so when I speak about, you know, what diversity, equity, inclusion mean, I mean, not at its core, it's honestly respecting each other once humanity for who they are.
And so if you take that
belief, we can just even break it down to our classrooms, right?
And it doesn't even have to be based on race or ethnicity.
It could just be based on your different learning styles, you know?
So if there is an educator who has children that maybe needs some additional special needs requirements versus someone that a child that doesn't, you wouldn't treat them the same way in terms of making sure they get what they need to understand that material.
And so
those initiatives that we're talking when it comes to diversity, equity, and inclusion, that would fall under that umbrella.
And even so, I mean, the data shows that diversity, equity, and inclusion actually benefits white women a lot more too, you know?
And so what we've seen is we always talk about the need for having a stronger workforce.
People making sure that they're able to stay in Wisconsin.
And obviously there's a lot of folks that are retiring.
we should have a state that's welcoming to anybody, regardless of their belief system, their racial background, or even just who makes them who they are.
And I do believe that having a more diverse state actually makes us stronger in a lot of ways.
And so when I talk about diversity and inclusion, it's not just regarding the positions that we talked about that happen with the UW system.
It's really having a more inclusive space.
that ensures that everyone has a quality of life.
And that's simply what it is.
Yeah, I mean, to me, it's the necessary requirement of a democracy to have everybody that's a citizen reflected and shared and viewed equally as human beings and together taking us forward.
And,
you know,
I really want to spend more time on the other side of the break talking about your focus on youth and what that youth movement can do for democracy in Wisconsin.
Absolutely.
This is a Paul Revere show.
We'll be right back.
Hello folks, this is your Paul Revere show.
This is attorney Mark Thompson.
I am here with Dora Drake candidate for the special election call that will be taking place on July 30th, 2024 with the primary in July 2nd, 2024.
And Dora is currently in the assembly and moving up to the Senate.
And we've been sharing like the focus of the issues in the case.
I know you have a focus on youth.
Absolutely.
How do you see young people and their issues playing a part in the campaign and frankly in the future of Wisconsin?
Absolutely.
Well, I mean, you sort of said it, like, if we don't take care of our youth, you know, they are our future.
And so it's imperative that I think anybody or any leader would invest in making sure that our children can read, that they can write, that they have opportunity, and that they're well overall.
And specifically when it comes to the youth, one of the pressing issues that
I've witnessed, not just in the community, but even personally, has been how important mental health is in terms of addressing it.
I recently had a, actually a group of students from Obama High School come and visit me at the state Capitol earlier this year.
And one of the young ladies shared with me how the day before they came up, she just was released from the Dewey Center.
you know, for folks that don't know what the Dewey Center is, that's sort of like our pinpoint, one of our pinpoint places for folks that are seeking mental health treatment.
And so with her sharing that with me so candidly, you know, the follow-up conversation I have with her was like, hey, are you getting the support?
What does that look like?
And I appreciate her honesty in this.
She shared how she felt really supported in the schools.
you know, and her friends and her teachers.
But sometimes that doesn't always connect at home.
And so when we talk about mental health, I can definitely confidently say yes, there are groups, there are community leaders in North Sainer County are making, are pushing to making sure we have enough resources.
But at the state, there's under chapter 51s where we have all their state statutes.
you know, addressing mental health and they need to be addressed in a real way.
Not, I believe that we also need to provide funding for that but also being okay in addressing the trauma that comes with that and some of the trauma that's connected to that can be gun violence.
It can be stuff that's happening in the home and so when we look at mental health it's really
stating this is a problem.
We know it is, but it's time to sort of pull it out the closet and dress it head on.
And the second thing when it comes to the youth, like I said, is reading and writing.
At least in Wisconsin, we have some of the worst rates for when it comes to addressing literacy.
And if you can't read or write, you know, you're not going to have
much success, you know, in terms of whether it's graduation or even if you're seeking to seek higher education or go towards the trades, right, in apprenticeships, which I absolutely love.
And so I want to make sure that they have a fair fighting chance at really excelling at what their gifts and talents are.
And if we don't do that for them, then quite frankly, we're shooting our own selves in the foot.
And it's important that we put them first when it comes to investing in their future.
Yeah, folks, I am here with Dora Drake.
She's running for the 4th Senate District Special Election coming up here in July.
You know, with the focus on youth, there's been a lot of discussion out there on reckless driving, a big debate of, you know, what are we doing with young people as far as
you know, from driving to just general crimes and this huge debate over, do we educate or do we incarcerate?
Absolutely.
How do you see your position on that?
And how do you see making a difference in Madison?
Absolutely.
Well, one, I have to be kind of like obviously reckless driving is something that all of us have experienced.
You know, I've
I live in the city, so there are times I'm looking both ways before I cross a red light.
I actually found out one of my constituents that's been very engaged with my office suddenly passed away due to a reckless driver.
And so it's a real issue that our city and county and quite frankly, people at the state want to address.
Well, I think it's statewide.
I mean, if you drive, you're on the air state.
I mean, people are just driving recklessly.
Absolutely.
And obviously it's happening nationwide as well.
But working in the justice system, there has to be a balance and attention of accountability versus services.
And so I will say earlier this year, I was actually one of the co-sponsors that made drivers education or that provided a grant to push drivers education back in the schools.
you know, we used to have that in our schools.
So that way, you know, if a high schooler was going through, you know, our public schools, they have the opportunity to do that.
And we simply don't have that anymore.
So that leads into the conversation of pushing more funding for our schools, right?
But then on the accountability side, I do believe that there's a space where you can still hold actors accountable, right?
We have to admit that because there are still victims that come
that happened when someone is impacted by reckless driving, but finding ways policy-wise where there's a space for accountability and redemption and reconciliation in that space.
So folks, Dora Drake running for the fourth Senate district.
We have a couple of minutes left.
Economic development, jobs, the focus on what makes the economy go.
why young people go to school, get educated, move on.
What do you see the key issues are going forward?
And what do you see your role in the Senate is pushing jobs and development in the state?
Absolutely.
So when it comes to the economy, I think all of us know that due to other circumstances that are happening nationwide, you know, the inflation is real.
you know, and so people are struggling to sort of put food on the table, their dollars and going as far as they're used to.
And with the opportunity that the Biden administration has pushed, you know, in terms of funding towards Wisconsin, there's the opportunity for union paying jobs, apprenticeship opportunities, and even contracting opportunities, especially for our minority owned businesses.
And so I believe that as that money is coming down the pipeline, what are we doing as a state to making sure that those are available to people here in Wisconsin first?
I'm a sole believer that if you invest in the people of Wisconsin, people will stay one, but then people can actually invest in their families.
They can put food on the table and they can actually feel good about what they're doing and not feel that they have to work several jobs, you know, just to make ends meet.
And we know that if they're
members that are doing that that's going to put strain on anybody and that's going to lower our quality of life in our city and our in the district and our state.
Folks, we're here with Dora Drake.
Dora, 10 seconds.
Why should people get out and vote for Dora Drake and the special election for the fourth Senate?
People should vote for me because I have a proven track record of not only getting things done, but because of my personal experience within the justice system, knowing what it means to invest in our youth and having a personal connection of what it means to deal with mental health is imperative that we have the next generation of service oriented leadership and I am that person for the job.
Thank you.
Thank
you.
I was going to learn more at Door Drake.
for wi.com.
Thank you, Dora.
Welcome, folks.
This is Mark Thompson.
This is your Paul Revere show.
I am delighted to have back Jay Heck.
the director of Common Cause with sort of an update on some really hot issues in terms of the state of democracy in the state of Wisconsin and drop boxes of all things.
So, hey, welcome back, Jay.
How are you?
Mark, it's great to be with you.
And I don't think your listeners often know about this, but
While you bring on a lot of great people to talk about democracy, you yourself are one of the real champions of democracy.
And for eight long years, you have labored as a commissioner in the Wisconsin elections commission.
And boy, that is heavy duty lifting for democracy.
So I know you're too modest to talk much about that, but your listeners need to know that about you.
Well, that's very kind.
I should say, you know, it's really an honor and privilege to serve.
And it's really fun being on the front lines.
You know, it's if you want to be front and center at a historic point in America.
The last few years have been it, right?
I mean, it's just been it if if somebody would have told me that the speaker of
You know the speaker of the house would show up at a criminal trial For somebody that is being tried and may be convicted of a cover-up All for election purposes.
Yeah, I would have said it's impossible, right?
I mean, you know, it's I think you couldn't have even written a story about it
No, no
We live in not only interesting times, but historic times.
I just wish from time to time we could have a 15 minute break from such interesting times.
Right.
Everybody wants to, like, can we get back to what's normal?
Right.
Whatever that
was.
Right.
Whatever that was.
But let's talk about common cause.
Just briefly remind listeners, you know,
You folks out there, Jay Heck has been fighting for democracy, leading Common Cause for years and years.
So just, you know, in a sentence or two, paragraph or two, Jay, what's Common Cause?
Sure.
And I'm my privilege to be entering my 29th year as the state director of Common Cause Wisconsin.
We are a national organization and the largest.
chapter in Wisconsin, we're the largest nonpartisan political reform advocacy group.
We have about 7,800 members and activists in every county, every corner of Wisconsin.
And what we care about, Mark, as you know, is voting rights, more voting is good, fair voting districts, less money in politics, no corruption if we can get there, ethical government.
In short, a return to the way Wisconsin once was, believe it or not.
100 years ago.
It's not that we want to go back in time, but we want to recapture the great state that we were.
Yeah, I mean, you know, let's just talk about Common Cause recently filed an amicus brief, which is a friend of the court brief and a decision before the Wisconsin Supreme Court involving drop boxes.
Why don't you just share your experience with this drop box?
issue, pre-Tigan or Tigan, whatever they call it.
And, you know, what's this all about?
And how is it really impacting democracy?
Well, so, you know, Wisconsin, to begin with, used to be one of the states in the country that voters had the most access to the ability to be able to vote.
We try to encourage everyone to vote.
Republicans and Democrats, this was not something that one party
Wanted and the other didn't there was a bipartisan consensus the participation in democracy was a good thing and We were that way for many years.
We had the number one or number two voter turnout in the country until as you know in 2011 when the Walker administration and the Republican majority decided that less voting would be of advantage to them and if they could restrict the way in which people were able to vote
to some degree than they would.
And of course, they enacted the most extreme voter photo ID law in the nation, which is still in place in Wisconsin.
And then over the years, Mark, have gone about systematically trying to make voting less available to voters.
And in one way that that was done is we now have what's called absentee voting where you can
Return an absentee ballot if you don't go to the polling place and that's a good thing That's everybody should be able to do that and they can but and I call it death by a thousand cuts to democracy What they hit what they've done over the years is restricted early voting from three weeks to two As you know, no Sunday voting before the election no Monday voting before the election and with regard to absentee ballots Very wisely the Wisconsin elections Commission
unanimously Republicans and Democrats authorized the ability of secure voter drop boxes to be placed in communities all over the state for people to return their filled out, witnessed absentee ballot.
Now keep in mind, you don't receive an absentee ballot until you've been able to show your voter, your photo ID until you are qualified to receive it.
And then once it's filled out, it's just a matter of getting it back to the election clerk on time.
It used to be marked that if your ballot was postmarked by election day, but received by the clerk three or four days later, it would still be counted.
That was changed.
They said it must be in the hands of the clerk by election day.
And so during the pandemic,
Dropboxes were established around the state 570 by 2021 and it was excellent It made it possible for disabled people to be able to get their absentee ballots in on time for fear that the US mail wouldn't deliver them It made it possible for people that live in an urban area who don't have access to a car To be able to get their absentee ballot to a secure Dropbox so that it could be picked up by the clerks clerk's office only
and counted in time for election day.
But the conservatives on the Wisconsin Supreme Court, they decided that they would go along with a conservative lawsuit saying, no, no drop boxes.
The only way those absentee ballots are going to count is if they've been received by the clerk in the mail by election day, or if they're hand delivered to the clerk's office.
And initially, the ruling by the Supreme Court even
even prohibited disabled people from having someone be able to deliver the absentee ballot.
So that is a sort of a long way to explain to you that these absentee ballot drop boxes, which are more secure than US mailboxes, by the way, and there has never been any incidents of fraud or tampering or any other shenanigans that are constantly raised by the conservative side to try to get rid of them.
They were a good thing for voters of all political persuasions in rural areas in urban areas for voters And that's why we filed the amicus brief Because we are concerned about people being able to be able to have their voice heard And there's absolutely no reason why the secure voter drop boxes shouldn't be put in place again And just let me make one other point.
Wisconsin is the only state
in the entire upper Midwest.
And the only state that's not a deep Southern or Western deep red state that does not allow voter drop boxes.
29 states, including all of our neighbors, Michigan, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, even Iowa, which is more Republican than Wisconsin, allows voter drop boxes.
We have, we're the only state that's completely banned them.
And we need to turn that around.
And I am hopeful that the new Wisconsin Supreme Court will reverse that very narrow decision of July of 2022.
And we will have a restoration of voter drop boxes for all voters to be able to return their ballots in a timely manner.
So I think you use the word restoration.
And I think that's really, really important.
you know, because sometimes you hear it as if this dropbox is, you know, I mean, people like it's a novel idea.
I mean, they've been using dropboxes way before COVID.
Yes.
Okay.
And, you know, what people don't understand is, you know, we have 1,850 municipal clerks that run the elections.
Many of those clerks out in rural areas and small villages.
The homes are the office of the clerks.
Yes.
And so the issue is how do the clerks manage to collect the ballots from voters?
I think, you know, your point was, it's so important.
These are folks that have qualified with voter ID to get the ballot who have asked for it, who put it in envelope, it's witnessed, right?
And now all the, all the voter is trying to do is get the legal ballot back so it's counted on time.
Yes.
And for
years,
right.
For years in Wisconsin before COVID drop boxes were used as a means to facilitate that.
Yes.
And the restoration is the principal thing, right?
What common causes file a brief on is to say, wait a minute, folks, everybody should be able to get their ballots back in easy.
Absolutely.
And you know, one of the conservative arguments in the oral arguments before the Wisconsin Supreme Court was that this is a reversal of a decision made by the court.
This is an infringement on starry decisis.
Well, in fact, just the opposite is true.
It was the conservative decision in 2022, which was the radical departure from the norm, the radical departure from the statute.
And this is, as you have mentioned, and I mentioned previously, a restoration to the status quo that enables everybody to be able to have their vote count.
We should go further.
We should have that law back in place where you're...
Your absentee ballot need only be postmarked by election.
And then if it's returned, then your vote will still count for up to three days after the election.
I mean, that's the case in most other states in the country.
So, you know, there's lots of things that have been done to whittle away the ability of citizens to have their votes count.
This restoration will be modest.
It will be, you know, an improvement, but it will allow some people
to have their votes counted that were not able to have their votes counted in 2020, that too, when the midterm elections were in the 2023 Supreme Court election, when this radical departure was in place.
We've got a lot more work to do, but I'm encouraged by the oral arguments and I'm encouraged that we're at least finally, Mark, headed in the upward direction towards progress and away from the continual
suppression and the continual whittling down of the right of people to be able to vote in the state.
You know, you mentioned oral arguments.
Any other observations that you made listening to the Supreme Court in terms of how you think it may come down?
Yeah, you know, I think if you listen carefully, if you listen or read carefully about what each of the justices said,
You know, we know how this is going to be decided.
Unfortunately, as a result of our politics now and the polarization of the court, we kind of know where everybody stands on this.
But certainly, the four so-called progressives who are in the majority all indicated that they believe in the restoration of a right that Wisconsinites had.
the three conservatives all seem to have forgotten that prior to 2022, we had the ability to use route boxes.
So I think it'll be, again, a 4-3 decision and hopefully it'll come out soon because we want it to be in place for the upcoming 24 primary and general election.
Folks, this is attorney Mark Thompson.
This is your Paul Revere show.
I am here with Jay Heck.
who heads up Common Cause.
We're talking about democracy in the state of democracy in our great state and moving forward and how there may be a breath of fresh air coming soon before the election with Dropboxes and much more soon with J-HEC.
Hello, folks.
This is attorney Mark Thompson.
This is your Paul Revere show.
We are with Jay Heck of Common Cause and we're talking about how to keep Wisconsin moving forward.
We're talking about how do we expand voting rights?
And frankly, just how do we make Wisconsin more democratic?
And this is Common Cause is nonpartisan, right, Jay?
I mean, you're out there in terms of what's best.
for good clean government.
Absolutely.
I am a former progressive Republican.
We have Republicans and Democrats on the board.
We're nonpartisan.
We just care about democracy for everybody.
Absolutely.
We're talking about democracy.
We talked a lot about drop boxes and voter access and expanding that.
What about the fair maps and
We have new elections coming up with new maps.
What do you think?
Well, you know, Mark, I'm sure you've talked about this with others, but you know, February 19th was just an incredible day in the history of Wisconsin because it brought together a series of events that occurred in such a way that no one could have foreseen the tremendous outcome.
that came about.
And what it was, of course, as you know, was that the maps that Governor Evers submitted to the Wisconsin Supreme Court, after the Wisconsin Supreme Court struck down the gerrymandered Republican state legislative maps of 2021, which were just a continuation of the 2011 gerrymandered maps.
The Supreme Court, the new majority, asked for maps to be submitted.
the maps that the governor submitted were the fairest.
And the reason you know that, and we know that, is because the Democrats submitted maps which favored them.
The Republicans submitted maps that the status quo that favored them.
The governor's maps were the truly competitive maps that really reflected the purple composition of Wisconsin's electorate.
And he strongly stood by those.
He stuck by his own maps.
And they were the ones that were enacted into law.
So the reason they're so important is they're in place for 2024 for the upcoming elections.
And all I have to do is tell you what happened just yesterday on the last day or one of the last days of the legislative session.
Because we have a hyperpartisan gerrymandered legislature.
I call it the last gas of the of the gerrymandered legislature.
They brought with 24 hours notice, no public notice at all, a series of legislation to the floor that had all been vetoed by the governor with an attempt to do nothing more than override the veto of the governor and the state senate.
And because they have a hyper-partisan super majority of 22 to 11 seats in the state senate,
they were able to do that on the five bills that they brought up.
Now they don't have that supermajority in the assembly, so it's almost a futile exercise for the assembly to come together and vote on those because there just won't be the votes to do that.
But that's the hyper partisanship of Wisconsin.
It's a game.
None of that did anything to help the people of Wisconsin.
It was done purely for the Republicans to be able to get a message.
so that during the campaign they can attack the governor and attack the Democrats.
So it was just pure politics.
The new maps, and if we think, if what happens, what we think will happen is that after the elections in November as a result of these new maps, we have a legislature that much more accurately reflects the composition of Wisconsin, which is about 50-50, very close.
then I don't think those types of games will be possible in the legislature in the near future.
You're going to see many more reasons for legislators of both parties to come to agreement.
bipartisan agreement and actually get some things done.
So that's the reason fair maps are important.
They're not important because they give Democrats now a better chance to pick up seats that they couldn't before.
They're important because they will allow the Wisconsin legislature to be able to operate in a sane manner.
in which people of both parties don't have to be frightened of their bases and can come together and work together.
Like Wisconsinites traditionally have done in this state.
I think we've talked about this before.
When I moved it to Wisconsin in the late 1980s, this state was held as the beacon of democracy and bipartisan cooperation for getting things done.
Republicans and Democrats were certainly
always had each other's throats, but at the end of the day, they generally came together to accomplish things for Wisconsin.
And as a result, we were one of the endies of the country.
That all fell apart over the last 13 years.
The new maps, I think, will enable us to come back to some degree to that place.
You know, we talked about maps, drop boxes, from common causes vantage point.
What else is on the near future agenda?
What I mean between now and November What do you see?
Sure, you know the 2024 election in Wisconsin will be Again one of those two or three elections in the country that will determine one of those two or three states that will determine the outcome of the presidency As you and I have discussed in four of the six presidential elections
in this 21st century have been decided by the less than 1% of the vote.
And so I don't see any reason to think that 2024 is going to be much different.
It's going to be extremely close.
So every vote's going to matter.
Every vote's going to count.
So what we do in an election year like this is we try to make maximize information that's available to voters about how they get the proper ID that they must have.
in order to be able to vote about how they get the proper absentee ballot filled out with the witness and the address of the witness, all of those on the back so that when they put it in the secure drop box that will hopefully be available for them, their voices will be counted.
The other things we care about obviously are making sure that people are not intimidated.
when they go to polling places, if they're standing in line, that there aren't people who are coming up to them and threatening them with everything from, you know, if you ever, if you ever got in trouble with the law, you can't vote.
And if you do, you'll be in trouble.
Those are the types of things.
So maximizing voter information and turnout.
And we will do that from now till November, every single day.
Folks, Jay Heck, Common Cause.
Jay.
10 seconds.
How do they get hold of you if they want to help build a better Wisconsin?
www.commoncausewisconsin.org or call me or email me jheck at common cause.org.
We'd love to hear from you.
Folks, this is your Paul Revere show.
Have a great one.
