Madison, Wisconsin Turnout Soars to 29.4 percent in Spring Primary

Madison, Wisconsin—This weekend the Madison City Clerk's office sent an administrative email to election workers reporting City turnout was 29.4 percent in the Spring Primary election held Feb. 20.

Typically, Wisconsin Spring primaries, which are held in February, see turnouts in the single digits.

Last weeks' election reveals the pre-2017 days of single-digit turnouts in Madison appear to be over.

The new normal is record-breaking turnout in February weather, continuing a trend from 2017 begun after the 2016 Wisconsin voting rights case, One Wisconsin Institute v. Thomsen, in which voters prevailed over Wisconsin Republicans' voter obstruction measures.

In One Wisconsin a U.S. District judge ruled much of the Republican transformation of Wisconsin election law and many Republican "arguments for its restrictive voting rules [are] pretexual, [misrepresentative], and really aimed at giving Republicans advantage in elections," as noted by Rick Hasen, an election law expert living in California, (see Becker, The Capital Times, Mal Contends, One Wisconsin Institute v. Thomsen, Mal Contends, Moritzlaw, Rick Hasen, One Wisconsin Institute v. Thomsen).

Since the sweeping One Wisconsin ruling that, for example, struck down a Republican-enacted law forbidding the placement of multiple early-voting polling places in Madison and Milwaukee, Madison has worked for "voter outreach efforts, ... [with the] goal is that every eligible voter will be able to cast a ballot and have that ballot counted," as noted in a typical Madison Voter Education Ambassador Training session to be held on Feb. 27.

The judge in One Wisconsin ruled "most of the state-imposed limitations on the time and location for in-person absentee voting," failed to further a legitimate state interest, a low bar, (p.5).

Madison now retains some 14 early voting, (in-person, absentee), locations in city limits.

Madison's facilitating the right of voters to vote has provoked hostile Wisconsin Republicans to retaliate against Madison through several non-election initiatives that eliminate local control. The initiatives are being considered in the Wisconsin legislature.

The hostility also comes from some white poll workers.

At the Meadowood polling site on Feb. 20, a white poll worker, (a racist named Terry), had voiced specific disapproval about the inclusion of black poll workers in April 2017. The racist remains working at the polls.

Terry harassed and hazed other poll workers last Tuesday with the apparent intent of creating a hostile polling place at the Meadowood polling place.

White entitlement and racial animus still define Wisconsin politics and the polling place.

Against this reality, training sessions and work by numerous Madison election officials to implement measures recognizing the powerful, affirmative right to vote in the Wisconsin Constitution, Suffrage - Article III, (Ballotpedia), and protected by the First and 14th Amendments of the United States Constitution, continue.