For Release: Tuesday - September 25, 2018
Today is National Voter Registration Day. Be sure you, and other Wisconsinites, are ready to vote.
Here's a rundown on some of the ways we can make this day count – and how we can
stay engaged throughout these final six weeks before the November 6th midterm election and make a difference.
First and foremost, make sure you are registered to vote at your current address.
Go to
MyVote.WI.gov, select "Register to vote," and enter your name and date of birth.
If you find out that you are not already registered to vote at your current residence,
see this information on voter registration options and deadlines. And then make sure that every family member, friend – anyone you know who is eligible to vote – is registered, too.
Don't let up after today. This is too important.
Do you need help registering to vote or more information about how to help others register?
You can find National Voter Registration Day events near you by visiting
this page on the National Voter Registration Day website and entering your zip code. Many dedicated nonpartisan volunteers across the state are happy to answer questions and help folks register to vote.
Next, if you think there is any chance that you won't make it to the polls on Election Day, then vote early.
Early voting just started in
Madison and
Milwaukee. To find out where and when you can cast an early, in-person absentee ballot in your city/town/village,
contact your local municipal clerk.
Here is more on what you need to know about casting an early, absentee ballot – in-person or by mail. Read it – and share this link widely.
And don't forget a photo ID.
You will need to present one of the acceptable IDs pictured left when voting in Wisconsin, so take a moment and check to see if you have the photo ID you need to cast a ballot early or on Election Day.
If you don't have an acceptable photo ID, review the information on our downloadable voter ID fact sheet. Or visit the Wisconsin Election Commission's voter photo ID website: Bring It to the Ballot.
You can also contact one of these nonpartisan voter ID hotline numbers for assistance: (608) 285-2141 or (414) 882-8622.
Want to do more? How about volunteering?
We've said many times that if we want our democracy to work, we have to show up. But for those without transportation to the polls, "showing up" can be tough, if not impossible.
In response to this need, CC/WI is once again identifying and recruiting organizations and individuals statewide who are willing to offer free rides to the polls during early voting, on Election Day, or both.
We will be publishing a link to our statewide list of these individuals and groups later this week on this page of our website. Check back regularly as we will be updating our list as more volunteers and organizations are added.
If you are interested in joining our team of volunteer drivers or know of any folks in your area offering this service, please contact CC/WI by email as soon as possible!
Another way you can help is by volunteering as an Election Observer.
With the prospect of potential confusion at the polls, volunteering to be a poll monitor is a critical way you can make a huge difference this election.
Our longtime partners, the League of Women Voters of Wisconsin, are providing online training, resources, and poll assignments to citizen volunteers statewide. Just sign up using the League's online Election Observer Volunteer Form.
National Voter Registration Day is intended to highlight an important step that all eligible voters must take to preserve our democracy.
Take this step and do more to help as many people as you can do the same.
Contact:
Sandra Miller
Director of Information Services & Outreach
608/658-2109
smiller@commoncause.org
Common Cause in Wisconsin
152 W. Johnson St., Suite 212
Madison, WI 53703
608/256-2686
Want Good Government?
Join Common Cause in Wisconsin!
www.CommonCauseWisconsin.org
Read More...
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For Release: Monday - September 24, 2018
68 Democrats, 2 Republicans and No Third Party Candidates
Indicate Support for "Iowa Model"
Since CC/WI
announced on August 30th that we would be posting the names of all "pro-active" November 2018 election state legislative and statewide candidates who support non-partisan redistricting reform, and specifically, the "Iowa Plan," we have heard from, or know of, 68 state legislative and two statewide candidates who do so.
A total of 68 Democratic candidates and two Republican candidates support this critical and needed reform measure. We have not heard from any third party candidates to date.
Here is the updated list of supporters, as of this morning, September 24th.
There may be candidates for state office who support redistricting reform but are not yet on our radar screen.
Any statewide or state legislative candidate (or their authorized proxy) who supports the "Iowa Plan" and would like to see their name listed on our site should contact CC/WI by phone at (608) 256-2686 (leave a message if no answer), by email or by letter: CC/WI, P.O. Box 2597, Madison, WI 53701-2597.
Citizens can urge candidates to support non-partisan redistricting reform and request that they get their names on this list. Candidates must be pro-active to have their names appear on this site. That shows us and the voters of Wisconsin that you are "paying attention" to this issue. So no complaints that CC/WI "should have known" of your support for this reform, please!
We will update the list constantly and have published a link to it in the sidebar of our website for anyone to check to see who is on it and therefore in support of the Iowa Plan.
There is more that you can do to advance non-partisan redistricting reform in Wisconsin in the next six weeks before the November 6th election.
First, you can download and print the postcard sized information sheet with questions to ask state legislative and statewide candidates at candidate forums and to distribute to your friends and family to do the same.
Challenging candidates in person or through the media to support redistricting reform is very powerful and effective.
Second, if you haven't done so yet, please "sign" the online petition in support of the "Iowa Plan" for Wisconsin and urge friends and family to do so as well. We already have just over 4,000 "signatures" and would love to have well over 5,000 to present to the new Wisconsin Legislature, after the election, in early 2019.
Let's make ending partisan gerrymandering a central focus during this election season and finally achieve the redistricting process Wisconsin voters of all political persuasions want and deserve.
On Wisconsin!
CONTACT:
Jay Heck
608/256-2686 (office)
608/512-9363 (cell)
Common Cause in Wisconsin
152 W. Johnson St., Suite 212
Madison, WI 53703
608/256-2686
Want Good Government?
Join Common Cause in Wisconsin!
www.CommonCauseWisconsin.org
Read More...
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For Release: Monday - September 17, 2018
52 State Assembly & 12 State State Senate Candidates and 2 Statewide Candidates
Signal Support for "Iowa Model"
Last week, dozens of candidates running for the Wisconsin Legislature in the 2018 November election informed Common Cause in Wisconsin (CC/WI) of their support for ending partisan gerrymandering in Wisconsin and, instead, establishing a non-partisan redistricting process based on the system established in Iowa, in 1980.
As of Monday morning, September 17th, there are 52 State Assembly & 12 State State Senate Candidates and 2 Statewide Candidates whom we know support the "Iowa Model."
To see the constantly updated listing of supporters,
go to this page on the CC/WI website.
During the 2017-2018 Legislative Session, non-partisan redistricting reform was the leading political reform initiative in the media and among citizens throughout Wisconsin. CC/WI helped unite pro-reform legislators and citizens behind a single measure –
Assembly Bill 44/
Senate Bill 13 – that is modeled after Iowa's highly successful, 38-year-old redistricting process that takes the partisan politics out of redistricting and delegates the boundary-drawing to a non-partisan state entity that does not utilize partisan political considerations in their task.
This issue has received the unprecedented endorsement of 19 Wisconsin daily newspaper editorial boards and thousands of citizens expressed their support for ending gerrymandering in letters to editors, communications to legislators and by attending one of numerous "reform forums" CC/WI and other organizations organized over 2017-2018 in every part of Wisconsin.
While the legislative leadership continues to oppose this reform and refused to hold even a public hearing during the past legislative session, redistricting reform is already very much an issue during the current election season.
We want to make it simple and easy for Wisconsin voters to see which state legislative and statewide candidates support the non-partisan redistricting reform embodied in the "Iowa Plan" by providing a continually updated list of those candidates on our website.
Any statewide or state legislative candidate (or their authorized proxy) who supports the "Iowa Plan" and would like to see their name listed on our site should contact CC/WI by phone at (608) 256-2686 (leave a message if no answer), by email or by letter: CC/WI, P.O. Box 2597, Madison, WI 53701-2597.
Citizens can urge candidates to support non-partisan redistricting reform and request that they get their names on this list. Candidates must be pro-active to have their names appear on this site.
We will update the list constantly and have published a link to it in the sidebar of our website for anyone to check to see who is on it and therefore in support of the Iowa Plan.
There is more that you can do to advance non-partisan redistricting reform in Wisconsin in the next few months.
First, you can download and print the postcard sized information sheet with questions to ask state legislative and statewide candidates at candidate forums and to distribute to your friends and family to do the same.
Challenging candidates in person or through the media to support redistricting reform is very powerful and effective.
Second, if you haven't done so yet, please "sign" the online petition in support of the "Iowa Plan" for Wisconsin and urge friends and family to do so as well. We already have just over 4,000 "signatures" and would love to have well over 5,000 to present to the new Wisconsin Legislature, after the election, in early 2019.
Let's make ending partisan gerrymandering a central focus during this election season and finally achieve the redistricting process Wisconsin voters of all political persuasions want and deserve.
On Wisconsin!
CONTACT:
Jay Heck
608/256-2686 (office)
608/512-9363 (cell)
Common Cause in Wisconsin
152 W. Johnson St., Suite 212
Madison, WI 53703
608/256-2686
Want Good Government?
Join Common Cause in Wisconsin!
www.CommonCauseWisconsin.org
Read More...
Intro only...
Thursday - September 13, 2018
We need your help.
CC/WI is recruiting volunteers across the state for the nonpartisan Election Observer Program organized by our longtime coalition partner, the
League of Women Voters of Wisconsin. Volunteers will help ensure we have a fair election by watching for signs of voter disenfranchisement and intimidation, and by monitoring the way Wisconsin's election laws and procedures are being applied.
Even if you can only spare a couple of hours on Election Day, you can still sign on as an election observer!
According to the League, past volunteers have said that providing this public service was both "very rewarding and educational" as they got to "see democracy in action and report on how well our voting procedures work and how they can be improved."
Becoming an election observer is a vital way you can help maintain a strong democracy in our state, so don't put it off – sign up now!
It's simple.
Just fill out the League’s online Election Observer Volunteer Form.
Once you sign up, the League provides everything you need to quickly get up to speed: online training, a reporting form, a polling place assignment with flexible shifts, and an Election Day hotline number if you have a question or need to report a problem.
If you have already volunteered, that's terrific – thank you! Please share this message with your friends, family – with anyone you think might be willing to be a part of this vital program.
Contact:
Sandra Miller
Director of Information Services & Outreach
608/658-2109
smiller@commoncause.org
Common Cause in Wisconsin
152 W. Johnson St., Suite 212
Madison, WI 53703
608/256-2686
Want Good Government?
Join Common Cause in Wisconsin!
www.CommonCauseWisconsin.org
Read More...
Intro only...
For Release: Tuesday - September 11, 2018
All support the "Iowa Model" for Wisconsin
On August 30th, CC/WI
issued a press release announcing that we would be posting the names of the statewide and state legislative candidates in 2018 who support ending partisan gerrymandering in Wisconsin.
Since that time we have heard from, or know that two statewide candidates, 33 candidates for state representative to serve in the Wisconsin State Assembly, and eight candidates for the Wisconsin State Senate support non-partisan redistricting reform and, specifically, the "Iowa Plan."
To view that listing now,
go here on the CC/WI website.
During the 2017-2018 Legislative Session, non-partisan redistricting reform was the leading political reform initiative in the media and among citizens throughout Wisconsin. CC/WI helped unite pro-reform legislators and citizens behind a single measure –
Assembly Bill 44/
Senate Bill 13 – that is modeled after Iowa's highly successful, 38-year-old redistricting process that takes the partisan politics out of redistricting and delegates the boundary-drawing to a non-partisan state entity that does not utilize partisan political considerations in their task.
This issue has received the unprecedented endorsement of 19 Wisconsin daily newspaper editorial boards and thousands of citizens expressed their support for ending gerrymandering in letters to editors, communications to legislators and by attending one of numerous "reform forums" CC/WI and other organizations organized over 2017-2018 in every part of Wisconsin.
While the legislative leadership continues to oppose this reform and refused to hold even a public hearing during the past legislative session, redistricting reform will be very much an issue during the current election season.
We wanted to make it simple and easy for Wisconsin voters to see which state legislative and statewide candidates support the non-partisan redistricting reform embodied in the "Iowa Plan" by providing an updated list of those candidates on our website.
Any statewide or state legislative candidate (or their authorized proxy) who supports the "Iowa Plan" and would like to see their name listed on our site should contact CC/WI by phone at (608) 256-2686 (leave a message if no answer), by email or by letter: CC/WI, P.O. Box 2597, Madison, WI 53701-2597.
Citizens can urge candidates to support non-partisan redistricting reform and request that they get their names on this list. Candidates must be pro-active to have their names appear on this site.
We will update the list constantly and have published a link to it in the sidebar of our website for anyone to check to see who is on it and therefore in support of the Iowa Plan.
There is more that you can do to advance non-partisan redistricting reform in Wisconsin in the next few months.
First, you can download and print the postcard sized information sheet with questions to ask state legislative and statewide candidates at candidate forums and to distribute to your friends and family to do the same.
Challenging candidates in person or through the media to support redistricting reform is very powerful and effective.
Second, if you haven't done so yet, please "sign" the online petition in support of the "Iowa Plan" for Wisconsin and urge friends and family to do so as well. We already have about 4,000 "signatures" and would love to have well over 5,000 to present to the new Wisconsin Legislature, after the election, in early 2019.
Let's make ending partisan gerrymandering a central focus during this election season and finally achieve the redistricting process Wisconsin voters of all political persuasions want and deserve.
On Wisconsin!
CONTACT:
Jay Heck
608/256-2686 (office)
608/512-9363 (cell)
Common Cause in Wisconsin
152 W. Johnson St., Suite 212
Madison, WI 53703
608/256-2686
Want Good Government?
Join Common Cause in Wisconsin!
www.CommonCauseWisconsin.org
Read More...
Intro only...
