Students hit hard by WI voting rules; State Street murals, Juneteenth in MKE; voters deterred in April 7 election; MKE still striving — and failing — to reach equity
Of note: This week we highlight reporting by Kayla Huynh, a University of Wisconsin-Madison journalism student who explored how Wisconsin makes it difficult for college students to vote, especially those living away from home. The pandemic — which abruptly uprooted thousands of Wisconsin college students before the April 7 election — erected another barrier. An estimated 6.9% of the state’s eligible voters are college students — a small but potent bloc in a state where elections often are decided by 1 percentage point.
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Wisconsin erected barriers to college voters. The pandemic added more.
Wisconsin Watch — June 20, 2020
On the day of the Wisconsin spring primary in February, Peter German was determined to vote. In between strained breaths, German — a freshman from West Bend attending the University of Wisconsin-Madison — said he had been running from building to building in an attempt to cast his ballot. “I haven’t missed an election yet,” he said, “so I’ll be damned if I’m going to now.”
Mural project brought Black voices to a shuttered State Street
Wisconsin Watch — June 23, 2020
On May 31, the day after violence first broke out on State Street in Madison during demonstrations in response to the death of George Floyd at the hands of Minneapolis police, a transformation began. Wisconsin Watch also visited Juneteenth celebrations in Milwaukee, which commemorates June 19, 1865, the day enslaved African American people in Texas were notified of their freedom — more than two years after President Abraham Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation.
Study: Poll closings, COVID-19 fears, kept many Milwaukee voters away
Wisconsin Watch — June 24, 2020
Significant numbers of Milwaukee voters were dissuaded from voting on April 7 by the sharp reduction in polling places and the threat of the COVID-19 pandemic — with the biggest effects seen among Black voters, according to a new study.
Wisconsin DACA recipients vow to ‘push on’ after Supreme Court ruling on immigration program
WPR — June 22, 2020
For Lupe Salmeron, life in the United States is conditional. Her parents brought her to Madison from Mexico when she was 6. She learned English quickly. She made friends in her neighborhood. Her parents told her they were living in the country without documentation, but she didn’t fully understand what that meant until she was in her teens. The U.S. Supreme Court upheld the program that allows Salmeron to avoid deportation — at least for now.
Fannie Lou Hamer’s declaration ‘I’m sick and tired of being sick and tired’ is still a rallying cry for Black people in Milwaukee
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel — June 25, 2020
Milwaukee has made little progress in the decades since a civil rights activist made her impassioned plea for equal rights, according to Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reporter James E. Causey’s special report.
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