Milwaukee mayor’s support for vote campaign draws backlash

MADISON, Wis. (AP) — A brand new privately funded get-out-the-vote initiative in Wisconsin’s largest and most Democratic metropolis has the help of Milwaukee’s mayor, however Republicans say it’s an try by Democrats to improperly bolster turnout within the narrowly divided battleground state.

The controversy over the Milwaukee Votes 2022 initiative echoes considerations raised by Republicans in 2020 when a Mark Zuckerberg-funded group distributed thousands and thousands of {dollars} in grants to help native elections places of work in Wisconsin and all through the nation as COVID-19 sophisticated the presidential election.

Milwaukee Mayor Cavalier Johnson helped gas Republican skepticism when he instructed that the town could also be helping with the brand new get-out-the-vote initiative funded by non-public grants. The mayor’s workplace later clarified that he was solely voicing help for the efforts, that are being funded and carried out with out authorities help, though Johnson did say the town would add a widget to its web site selling it.

That hasn’t stopped Republicans from elevating alarms. A number of Republican state lawmakers submitted open data requests for communications between Milwaukee officers and teams concerned with the initiative.

“There is no such thing as a query that third-party partisan cash continues for use in collusion with election officers in closely Democrat areas to assist Democrat candidates win elections,” mentioned state Rep. Janel Brandtjen, chair of the Meeting’s Elections Committee. She has been one of many main supporters of decertifying President Joe Biden’s victory over Donald Trump in 2020, a transfer that Republican leaders have mentioned can be unconstitutional and gained’t occur.

Johnson’s workplace careworn that Milwaukee Votes 2022 is solely made up of nonpartisan efforts to register voters and encourage voting.

“There is no such thing as a indication that it helps partisan efforts, and I’ve no indication that something that’s underway is illegitimate in any method,” mentioned Jeff Fleming, a spokesman for mayor.

Fleming mentioned it was a “mistaken impression” for anybody to assume the mayor implied the town was financing or receiving cash as a part of Milwaukee Votes 2022.

“The town’s posture is any nonpartisan effort to encourage folks to vote is welcome in Milwaukee,” he mentioned.

Non-public grant cash for elections administration has been the main target of many conspiracy theories since 2020, when the Chicago-based Middle for Tech and Civic Life, with funding from Zuckerberg, Fb’s founder and CEO, distributed grants to Democratic and Republican areas throughout the state and nation.

“Milwaukee Votes 2022 is actually Zuckerbucks 2.0. This should cease now,” Meeting Speaker Robin Vos, Speaker Professional Tempore Tyler August, Assistant Majority Chief Kevin Petersen and Wisconsin Election Fee chair Don Millis mentioned in a joint assertion Tuesday. The group additionally accused Democrats of permitting “suspicious exercise” and partisan meddling in elections.

Milwaukee acquired greater than $1.1 million from CTCL in 2020, which it used to pay ballot staff and buy long-term investments similar to high-speed voting tabulators. Wisconsin elections places of work acquired a complete of greater than $3.3 million, principally in small grants of $5,000 to native clerks.

The grants have withstood a number of authorized challenges in state and federal courts. The state’s Republican-controlled Legislature final yr authorised a proposal for a constitutional ban on election grants. Their option to pursue a constitutional modification means Democratic Gov. Tony Evers can’t veto the proposal, which might additionally must be handed throughout subsequent yr’s legislative session and a in statewide vote earlier than it may turn into regulation.

In conversations with The Related Press, most clerks from Wisconsin cities that acquired giant non-public grants in 2020 mentioned they weren’t frightened about funding elections with out that help in 2022.

“We definitely have hopefully a extra regular election to run in November, and we positively have had much more time to arrange for it than 2020,” Claire Woodall-Vogg, govt director of the Milwaukee Election Fee, mentioned in June.

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Hurt Venhuizen is a corps member for the Related Press/Report for America Statehouse Information Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit nationwide service program that locations journalists in native newsrooms to report on undercovered points. Comply with Venhuizen on Twitter.