Hello folks, this is Attorney Mark Thompson. This is your Paul Revere Show. I am here with
Darryl Marin of Forward Latino. We're talking about how Forward Latino is keeping this great
state of Wisconsin moving forward. I mean, you know, I got to love that motto. So Darryl, we have
this major election coming up in November. We've talked about the importance of the Latino
Hispanic vote. But we really haven't talked about the efforts. There's been a lot of suppression attempts.
What can you tell us, you know, from around the country and in Wisconsin, what do you see happening
on that issue? Well, we're seeing tactics that were first used, boy, what eight years ago coming
back all over again. We saw what happened when the photo ID law was put into place. And I'll
never forget that. I was my first election after that was put in place. And I went to go vote.
And there were two elderly gentlemen in editor's veterans who had mobility issues who weren't
allowed to vote that day. Because people said we needed to protect our elections, etc. Even though
there'd been millions of millions of dollars spent to investigate all the supposed fraud only to find
out there was none. And here, you had two men who risked their life serving their nation and
they weren't able to vote. And fast forward to today that it seems like the most popular thing to
do is to challenge the citizenship of voters in trying to purge people off of the voter rolls.
Because everyone understands, you know, like I said, the last presidential election here was one by
just over 20,000 votes. So any skewing one where the other can literally determine the outcome
of the election. So we're seeing, well, actually, just today, the US House and the US Senate finally
were able to pass a temporary spending bill that was held up because the former president was
insisting that citizenship proof of citizenship requirements be added to every voting
role here in the United States. And so he was willing to hold up everything. Once again,
shut down our federal government in order to get that there. We've seen actions.
I just want to touch on that. I'll just talk about that a little bit. So
you have to be a citizen to be registered to vote to begin with.
Correct. So I voted for years and years and years in Wisconsin by just showing up
down the street at my polling place with my neighbors who knew me.
And I was registered. No one ever asked me for an ID ever.
And for years and years and years, there was never any fraud,
any significant numbers on this issue. So we fast forward. Now you have to go. Now you
have to pull out your ID. We went through all the litigation in 2016 and 2018-20,
I mean, that battle was waging for a long, long time. What it meant, you had to have an ID,
federal courts intervened and said, okay, you can have a special ID, you can get it.
So you could still register to vote that day. But we know everybody that's
and registered to vote is a citizen already. We all know that you have to be a citizen to vote.
And then to talk about this as if we need to redo it or reset to me is the
it's the biggest lie out there because it implies somehow that citizens, right,
haven't been always just voting. And how is that playing out? I mean, because it's just
it creates such confusion out there. And that's absolutely right. It does create confusion. And
imagine showing up and right now I can share with you. And this is well documented. There's
nonprofits that are popping up just literally inundating election officials with claims of voter
irregularities. So they're being forced to literally go through thousands of folks to reauthenticate
them to use a term. But imagine showing up, I show up to polling place. And my name has been
removed or marked question. And the person tells me, okay, we'll just show us proof of citizenship.
Right. Most people don't have an easy access to proof of citizenship. And even if they did,
how many people do you think are actually going to go home, get it and come back?
So, you know, we view this as just another voter suppression effort used to create confusion,
used to create fear quite honestly as well to drive people away from the polls. You know,
when people are more willing to deny a lawful voter the right to vote, then risk an infinitesimal,
a small percentage of somebody who may be voting, who shouldn't be. You know, it just makes no sense.
And the only logical conclusion one one can come to is that it's being done to be able to give
an advantage to one side over the other. But I think to the point that you make, it's designed to
harass and slow down the process. If you show up and you're a registered voter, your name is on
the polls. That means you've already proved you are a citizen to allow someone then under the name
of being an observer to challenge that or make you redo it again. That is just obstructing
the person's right to vote because it just slows down the line. It intimidates people and people
hear about it and they get afraid. And the other thing is your neighbors, seniors that have
historically just gone there to work at the polls are now harassed and threatened and all under
the guise of somehow looking for this fake, fake thing. The hypocrisy underneath this too is,
you know, I wish the same legislators that have done this would have spent the same amount of
time and energy. I try to make sure that people would not try to become fake electors again.
Right. And essentially dismiss the people's earnest vote, legal vote in the state so that they
get the outcome they want. Folks, Darrell Marin of Forward Latino, thank you so much Darrell.
Well, think about these issues. Think about how it impacts your life. Get your neighbors to
register to vote. Go vote. Help people vote. Trust your, trust your neighbors folks. We have to
overcome this time of fear and darkness. This is Attorney Mark Thompson. This is Paul Revere's
show. Forward, always forward, Wisconsin. Thank you, Forward Latino.
