GOP suppression not new for Black Wisconsin voters

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(12 Feb 2023)

FOR CLEAN VERSION SEE STORY NUMBER: 4419230

RESTRICTION SUMMARY:
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Milwaukee - 9 February 2023
1. Various of Black voters at early voting location
ANNOTATION: From voting restrictions to a range of economic disparities, Black voters in Milwaukee have for years faced hurdles to cast a ballot.
2. SOUNDBITE (English) Dwayne Morgan, Wisconsin voter:
"They're also not just the voter suppression, they're trying to get us not to vote, they're trying to wipe away the history. It's very important that we get out and make our voice heard."
++SOUNDBITES SEPARATED BY WHITE FLASH++
3. SOUNDBITE (English) Dewayne Walls, Wisconsin voter:
"The voter ID, I've seen Republican leaders literally state that if they had had voter ID in certain elections, they would have won. So they know the effect of voter ID, they know the effect of all these things that they say are for security. But it's not security. It's they know the end effect."
++SOUNDBITES SEPARATED BY WHITE FLASH++
4. SOUNDBITE (English) Damario Wright, Wisconsin voter:
++SOUNDBITE PARTIALLY OVERLAID++
"We shouldn't have to show ID to vote. We're all American citizens, right, so why do we have to show proof to come cast our ballot, which is a right for every American, as they say, according to the Constitution, right?"
5. STILL image of voter and poll worker
STORYLINE:
Black voters in Milwaukee say the only thing new about Republicans bragging and joking about efforts to discourage them from voting is how boldly recent comments were made.
Opponents accuse the GOP of intentionally disenfranchising minorities — allegations that were reinforced when a Wisconsin election commissioner boasted about lower midterm turnout in Black neighborhoods of Milwaukee and a leaked recording showed a top campaign official for former President Donald Trump joking about efforts to reach Black voters.
"The voter ID, I've seen Republican leaders literally state that if they had had voter ID in certain elections, they would have won. they say are for security. But it's not security. It's that they know the end effect." says lifelong Milwaukee resident Dewayne Walls, 63.
Walls and other Black voters who turned out to vote early in Wisconsin's February primary for state Supreme Court told The Associated Press they're tired of the countless hurdles disproportionately keeping them from being heard at the ballot box.
"A lot of people thing their vote doesn't count, but it does count. Every vote counts," says Valeria Gray, 59.
Opponents have for years accused Wisconsin Republicans of pushing policies to suppress voters of color and low-income voters who are perceived as supporting Democrats. Many such policies centered on the Democratic stronghold of Milwaukee, where nearly 70% of Wisconsin's Black population resides.
Dwayne Morgan, 59, called it familiar behavior for the GOP in Milwaukee. "They're trying to get us not to vote. They're trying to wipe away the history," he said.
Republican-drawn legislative maps adopted last year dilute Milwaukee's influence and nearly guarantee a Republican majority in the state Legislature, despite statewide races routinely coming down to narrow margins. President Joe Biden defeated Trump in 2020 by less than a percentage point in battleground Wisconsin. Meanwhile, Republicans hold 64 of the 99 seats in the state Assembly and 21 of the 33 seats in the Senate.
It also adds to a list of reasons Black voters in Milwaukee, which is plagued by some of the worst racial disparities nationwide in health care, education, wealth and incarceration, have increasingly felt like their votes don't matter.