• President's Message
• Public Forum on the Impact of Abortion Restrictions
• Coffee for a Strong Democracy
• Taco Tuesdays for Tú y Yo
• LWVWI & Partners Work to Defeat WI Constitutional Amendments
• Help Promote Election Integrity
  
• Electoral College- Time for a Change
• Every Vote Counts- Even from Jail
• Vote411- Spring Elections Are Around the Corner!
• Greening your Home
• Recurring Donations- Give Monthly!
• LWVMC kickoff meeting
• Reproductive Freedom for Wisconsinites
  

President's Message

LWVMC’s Reproductive Rights committee is hosting a public forum titled, “Dire Consequences: Impact of Abortion Restrictions / A Focus on Wisconsin” on Wednesday, October 2, at 6:30 p.m. The forum can be attended online or in-person at NŌ STUDIOS, 1037 W. McKinley Ave., Milwaukee. The event is free and open to the public, but registration is required. Register here.  The livestream will be carried on the NŌ STUDIOS website. 

Extreme abortion restrictions are in place in some states, where they have imperiled women's lives and future fertility and have had devastating consequences for families. Attendees will  learn more about this critical issue from medical and legal experts.

"Many individuals are unaware that the US maternal mortality rate has been rapidly increasing since 2019," said Dr. Charlene Gaebler-Uhing MD, MHPE Adolescent Medicine Physician and co-chair of the League's Reproductive Rights Committee. "The US rate is 5-6 times higher than other developed countries, and American Black women are three times more likely to die than white women during pregnancy and immediate post-partum period. At this public forum, we will discuss why we have such high rates, why Black women are disproportionately impacted and what can be done to reverse these trends."

Forum presenters:

Kathy D. Hartke: MD Obstetrician/Gynecologist/Abortion Provider, Past CoChair of WI Maternal Mortality Review Team, Past Chair WI Section American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, Social Action Chair WI United Women in Faith

Dalvery Blackwell: Executive Director and Co-Founder, African American Breastfeeding Network

Cheri Taylor: Philanthropy Officer, Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin and Reproductive Justice Advocate

Representative Robyn Vining: 14th Assembly District, Chair Milwaukee Delegation, Ranking Member on the Assembly Committees on Family Law and Mental Health

This Year, We've Made a Big Change.

Our custom-labeled coffees are now from East View Coffee, a local coffee company with flavorful, rich coffees you won't want to miss.

Your purchase of coffee supports our work and mission to empower voters and defend democracy. It also supports women-owned coffee farms in Colombia and Brazil, where women traditionally have supplied most of the labor but are rarely the owners. Buy now for yourself and buy again later for holiday gifts of fresh-roasted coffee!

About our “Coffee for a Strong Democracy” fundraiser.

Order online.

Four coffees are offered, whole or ground bean @ $17.50 for each 12 oz. bag. Orders are online only with payment by credit card. Orders for three or more bags ship free to a single address in mainland USA. Orders for 1 or 2 bags have a $5 shipping charge.

BALLOT BOX, BREAKFAST BLEND

Notes: Chocolate | Bright | Cherry

Medium roast | Colombia + Brazil

DEMOCRACY DECAF, DREAM ROAST

Notes: Bold | Almond | Red Berry

Dark roast | Colombia | EA Process

PERFECT UNION, RICH SWEET BLEND

Notes: Dark fruit | Chocolate | Maple Syrup

Medium-dark roast | Colombia + Brazil

RABBLE ROUSER, DARK ROAST

Notes: Caramelized Fig | Pecan

Dark roast | Brazil

About East View Coffee Company, founded and owned by Jenny Ulbricht:

Every cup we brew tells a story of empowerment. We partner with women-owned coffee farms, championing equality and providing opportunities for growth. We believe in lifting each other up, creating a ripple effect of positive change.

Simplicity and sustainability are at our core. With smart packaging and carbon-neutral shipping, we ensure that our love for coffee doesn't come at the expense of our planet. Our promise is to tread lightly and leave a better world for future generations.

At East View, we know that small acts of kindness can transform lives. Together, we create connections, foster growth, and spread optimism.

Our mission is simple: to brew better and make life brighter. With every sip, we invite you to join us in making the world a little more hopeful, one cup of coffee at a time. East View Coffee Company – Brewing a Better Tomorrow.

Taco Tuesdays for Tú y Yo

Cafe Corazon has great food, a fun atmosphere, and friendly staff at three locations in Bay View, Riverwest, and Brown Deer.  And who doesn’t like tacos?!  

This is an easy way to support our League’s activities and to get our name out more across the Milwaukee community.

LWVVWI & Partners Work to Defeat WI Constitutional Amendments

Wisconsin voters were asked to approve two constitutional amendments on the Spring Election ballot, and two more on the August Primary ballot. Both amendments on the spring ballot passed; neither amendment on the August ballot passed. LWVWI and other voter rights organizations conducted aggressive messaging campaigns urging voters to reject the amendments.

Here we go again ….

Proposed Amendment a Potential Burden for Voters

For the 5th time this year, on the November ballot, the state legislature is asking voters to approve an amendment to the WI Constitution. LWVMC opposes this one, too, also on the grounds that the amendments do nothing to strengthen our elections or help voters.

What is the proposed amendment?

The amendment would change the constitution to say that “Only a US citizen age 18 or older who is a resident” may vote in a national, state, or local office or statewide or local ballot measure election. Currently, the constitution states that “Every US citizen age 18 or older who is a resident of an election district” is a qualified voter.

WI already has one of the strictest photo ID laws in the nation. What’s next? This amendment opens the door to possibly requiring proof of citizenship to vote, even though 10% of citizens do not have access to documentation (destroyed, lost), and many others do not have easy access to birth certificates, passports or naturalization papers. States enacting similar laws are stoking anti-immigrant sentiment and bogus claims of voter fraud.

Spread the word, and learn more at the LWVWI website.

Help Needed: Promote Election Integrity

Despite ample proof that our elections are well run and accurate, lies about fraud and election “rigging” persist, causing citizen trust in election results to decline. Members of the League of Women Voters, who are knowledgeable about voting processes and election administration, are well-positioned to boost voter confidence in our elections. Here are three ways to help:

Recruit Poll Workers:

Please spread the word about the need for poll workers – our election heroes! The toolkit below has material you can use to send information to your friends, neighborhood businesses, churches, health clubs – wherever civic-minded citizens hang out.

LWVWI 2024-25 Poll Worker Recruitment Toolkit

Recruit Election Observers

Training on Oct. 24, 6-8 pm

LWVWI and Election Protection recruit observers and publish a report after each election. They are seeking volunteers to be trained as Election Observers and placed in polling places in specific areas around the state. Training is provided, and the program is open to non-members. Observers need to be available to volunteer for a minimum of two hours on Election Day. Election observers will also need a cell phone to use while volunteering and their own transportation to and from their assigned polling location.

Election Observation Program Goals:

• to be sure there is no disenfranchisement

• to monitor the voter experience - including registration and showing ID

• to monitor the absentee ballot counting process

• to track any problems that can be fixed for future elections

LWVWI training webinar is Oct. 24, 6-8 pm. Register here:

Learn more here.

Electoral College- Time for a Change

By Lou Ann Van Fossen

“Don’t we deserve a presidential election system that is rooted in our values of equality, in which we all show up with the same political power at the ballot box and every voter is treated exactly the same, no matter where they live?”

Such a question, posed recently by professor and author Carol DuPont during a LWVUS webinar sponsored by the Electoral College Abolition Committee, flows from DuPont’s examination of the roots, history, misuse, and current impact of the Electoral College.

Her conclusion: It’s high time for a change – especially since the Electoral College system has allowed the popular vote loser to become president five times.

A history professor at Eastern Kentucky University and author of the newly published Distorting Democracy --an exploration of the Electoral College -- DuPont took advantage of the isolation of the pandemic to explore the U.S. Constitution’s method for choosing a president. What she found is surprising and often more myth than fact.

Myth: The framers of the Constitution created the “proxy system” of the Electoral College as a superior method to protect states’ rights and avoid the “tyranny of the majority.”

Fact: No such defense of these reasons is found in any primary source, transcript of the discussions at the Constitutional Convention, during ratification of the Constitution, or in The Federalist Papers at any time. The proxy idea, proposed so the best candidate could be chosen, would be made by discerning men “most capable of analyzing the qualities” of the candidates.

Myth: Strong, general agreement existed among the framers regarding the creation of the Electoral College.

Fact: The Electoral College was rejected several times as support was voiced for election by popular vote and selection of the president by Congress. Without agreement, the measure was finally adopted in a hurry during the final two weeks of the writing of the Constitution with the idea that the method should be used until a better idea came forward.

“A last-minute practical solution is not the same as a high minded and thoughtful solution,” DuPont said.

Myth: The Electoral College, as intended by the framers, has worked just fine for 237 years.

Fact: As early as the third presidential election, political parties shaped the Electoral College’s operation to extract maximum benefits for their party by, for example, allowing electors to pledge their votes in advance, switching methods of elector selection, and giving the right to legislators, instead of voters, to select electors.

“By the second decade of the 19th Century, the system had changed beyond recognition. By now, it has changed from proxy system to algorithm,” DuPont said.

Myth: The Electoral College prevents domination of large states in the election of a president.

Fact: The Electoral College advantages voters in large states. California, for example, has 54 electors – or 20 percent of the 270 electoral votes needed, while Montana has 3 electors, only 1.2 percent.

“Today, a candidate could be declared President by winning 11 states and 25 percent of the vote, making voters in the 39 other states totally irrelevant,” said DuPont.

 And even worse: “It’s a ‘winner takes all’ system that eliminates any weight at all for Americans who don’t vote with the majority in their state. In 2020, there were six million Donald Trump voters in California – a blue state - who had zero representation in the election,” she said.

Myth: We need the Electoral College or large cities would dominate the vote.

Fact: Large cities can’t dominate under the popular vote as vote totals are national.

“A popular vote,” said DuPont, “requires a candidate to draw much more broadly from all the states.” To eliminate the Electoral College, while important, is not enough by itself to make elections fairer, said Dupont, calling for reforms that would overhaul of the primary system, address the viability of third-party candidates, and replace the Electoral College with the popular vote. She supports a national primary day scheduled four months before the election.

It could happen. A constitutional amendment to remove the Electoral College has been presented to Congress seven times and support has been bipartisan. In 1968, Congress passed such an amendment with 83 percent voting in favor.

Every Vote Counts, Even from Jail

By Peg Schrader

Twice a month, representatives from the LWVMC Voter Services Committee visit correctional facilities to help incarcerated people register to vote. This includes providing information about how to register, requirements for registration, and an overview of their voting rights while incarcerated.

Part of this process also includes getting people the identification they need in order to register. To do that, LWVMC partners with VoteRiders (another nonpartisan organization that helps people secure identification for voting). In addition, LWVMC assists incarcerated people with requesting/obtaining an absentee ballot if they’ll still be at the correctional facility during the next election. Once released, they can vote at their polling location or continue to vote by mail.

Every vote counts, and the League is striving to make voting possible for every eligible voter.

Spring 2025 Elections are around the corner!! VOTE411 needs Community Volunteers

by Mary Voelker

VOTE411.org was created in 2006 by the League of Women Voters Education Fund and our League has participated since the Spring 2020 election. Back then we covered County-wide races in Milwaukee and Waukesha Counties and all races in the 19 municipalities of Milwaukee County. That Spring we covered 132 races. We have come a long way in expanding the races we cover. In Spring 2024 we covered 180 races in all municipalities and school districts in Milwaukee County; municipal races in the thirteen (13) largest communities in Waukesha; and the eight (8) K-12 school districts in those communities.

To meet its goal of covering all the races in almost 60 municipalities and school districts and the County-wide races in Milwaukee and Waukesha Counties, the VOTE411 team needs a large team of community volunteers. Community volunteers make a major contribution without requiring a lot of time. As a community volunteer, you help gather candidate information for our Spring Voter Guide from a municipal clerk and/or school district. This happens primarily between November and the end of the candidate filing period in early January.

We need Community Volunteers for Milwaukee and Waukesha Counties and two Volunteer Coordinators for Milwaukee and Waukesha Counties.

Coordinator positions:

Click here for the job description for the VOTE411 Community Volunteer Coordinator positions.

Interested in one of these leadership positions? Please contact Ellen Trytek at e.trytek@lwvmilwaukee.org or 414.218.8467

Community Volunteer positions:

The responsibilities of the Community Volunteers are listed here:

Community Volunteers:

1. Contact the city, village, town, or school district clerk in November and confirm with him/her their willingness to help us and which offices are up for election in Spring 2025; then report this information to the Vote411 Voter Guide Team.

2. Share with us any key issues in the municipality or school district that could help the VOTE411 team create questions important to the constituents.

3. In early January, the day after the candidate filing deadline, get the candidate names and contact information from the clerk, and pass that information on to us. The timing here is critical so the Vote411 team can quickly invite the candidates to participate in the online Spring Voter Guide by answering the questions we have posed to the candidates and then publish their answers on Vote411.org.

Interested in continuing as a Community Volunteer? Can you join the team as a new volunteer? This is a great position for new LWVMC members! To join and be part of this important volunteer role for VOTE411, please contact voterguideteam@lwvmilwaukee.org, or click here to sign up!

Greening Your Home:  Saving Money and Saving the Planet

By Candice Owley

On August 24th, the LWVMC Climate Action Group, together with Citizen Action of Wisconsin and Green Homeowners United, co-sponsored a program to educate homeowners and renters on thousands of dollars of rebates and tax credits now available through the federal Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), the largest federal program ever enacted to tackle climate change.

Under the IRA, Wisconsin is receiving $149 million in money for these new programs. The money will be available on a first-come, first-served basis. Eventually most, if not all, states will have these programs, but Wisconsin was chosen as the first state in the nation for these programs to “go live.”

Thanks to the IRA, most homes in Wisconsin are eligible for some form of energy incentives to make their home green. Either Tax credits or rebates or both. Tax credits are credits that lower your federal income tax. Tax credits include items such as: Energy Assessment, Insulation, Furnaces and Air Conditioners, Doors, Windows and Electrical service Updates.

Rebates will be managed through Focus on Energy (FOE) and cover a wide range of energy saving items such as: attic insulation, wall insulation, basement insulation, furnace upgrades and more.

To see what you might qualify for you can go to this calculator: http://www.greenhomewi.com/iracalculator. You can also go to the Focus On Energy  website for information on the rebates.

The Climate Action Group will be working to get more information out to our members by presenting a virtual webinar so that more members and their families can access these funds. Look for information in a future newsletter. If anyone has any questions contact Candice Owley the CAG co-chair at c.owley@lwvmilwaukee.org

Recurring Donations- Give Monthly!

We have just made it easier for you to support our local League. The League of Women Voters of Milwaukee County invites you to become a monthly donor. Join our monthly giving program to support our mission to empower voters and defend democracy. We are committed to nonpartisanship as we promote civic engagement and your contribution will be put to good use and is truly appreciated.

Whether you sign up for a recurring gift of $10 a month or $100 a month, your generosity will increase the capacity of the League for outreach in the community. These activities include:

• Voter registration at high schools, new citizens' ceremonies, and community events

• VOTE411.org which provides unbiased election information and candidate surveys to the public

• Candidate forums, and

• Educational forums on important public policy issues

How to sign up?

Go to the League website at www.lwvmilwaukee.org and sign-in as a member. Click on the donate button and you will see six opportunities to give with the top left being “recurring donations.” Click on “Schedule donation” in the recurring donations button.

Then follow the prompts. There is a minimum of $10 per month and you will need a credit card.

Here are the details on following the prompts:

1. Decide how many times you want the donation made and enter in the box for number of occurrences. E.g. enter 120 to donate monthly for 10 years; Enter 60 to donate monthly for 5 years.

2. Choose the frequency of your donation. Choose monthly or quarterly from the drop-down menu for frequency of occurrences.

3. Enter the first contribution date. Entering today’s date will save you from getting messages that a payment is due. The system will calculate the last contribution date.

4. Enter the amount of each recurring donation.

5. Answer the other questions that are indicated with a red dot (●)

6. Enter Credit Card information.

7. Click on “Proceed to Payment.”

If you have questions, contact Mary Voelker at m.voelker@lwvmilwaukee.org.

LWVMC Program Year Kick-off!

Reproductive Freedom for Wisconsinites

By the Reproductive Rights Committee

Reproductive freedom and women’s health are under assault. Nationwide, reproductive rights—not only for abortion but also contraception, assisted reproduction, and sex education—are being eroded. What we do now and in November will determine whether these rights are protected or whether they disappear. Contact your legislators now and spread the word to boost voter turnout in November.

In February, Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin petitioned the Wisconsin Supreme Court to protect abortion in Wisconsin citing the Wisconsin Constitution, which states that all people “have certain inherent rights.” Planned Parenthood believes these inherent rights include bodily autonomy and integrity and the right to self-determination.

In 2023, a Dane County judge ruled that a 19th century Wisconsin law does not prohibit abortions. The Sheboygan County District Attorney appealed that ruling, and Attorney General Josh Kaul asked the court to bypass the Court of Appeals and take the case. In July, the Wisconsin Supreme Court agreed to concurrently hear Planned Parenthood’s case and Kaul’s petition.

Kaul stated that with these petitions, his office will seek resolution of larger constitutional questions related to reproductive rights to “provide greater clarity to Wisconsinites about the rights they can count on in an area of the law that has been rife with uncertainty since Roe was overruled.”

Reproductive rights are at stake in other states and at the federal level. We must fight for our rights, our daughters’ rights, and our granddaughters’ rights by voting in November and contacting all our Wisconsin and federal legislators.

For more information, or to get involved with the Reproductive Rights Committee, please contact Gail Sklodowska at g.sklodowska@lwvmilwaukee.org and contact:

Senator Ron Johnson https://www.ronjohnson.senate.gov/contact

Senator Tammy Baldwin https://www.baldwin.senate.gov/contact

Attorney General Josh Kaul https://www.doj.state.wi.us/ag/contact

Wisconsin State Senators https://legis.wisconsin.gov/senate/

Wisconsin State Assembly https://legis.wisconsin.gov/assembly/

Members of Congress https://www.congress.gov/members/find-your-member