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Spread the Word:
Vote NO on April 1 | | | Here we go again ... How hard should it be to vote?
Another constitutional amendment is on the April 1 ballot.
 Question: “Photographic identification for voting. Shall section 1m of article III of the constitution be created to require that voters present valid photographic identification verifying their identity in order to vote in any election, subject to exceptions which may be established by law?”
For the 6th time in the past year, the Wisconsin legislature is asking voters to approve an amendment to the state Constitution. The League of Women Voters and more than 20 other voter rights organizations opposed all of the amendments on the grounds that they do nothing to strengthen our elections or help voters.
What is the proposed amendment on the April ballot?
The ballot question asks voters to enshrine a voter photo ID requirement in the Wisconsin Constitution. This is another example of the legislature attempting to bypass the authority of the executive and judicial branches through the constitutional amendment process (the Governor cannot veto). Meanwhile, the legislature has denied voters the ability to propose their own citizen-led ballot initiatives.
Why is this wrong for Wisconsin voters?
Wisconsin already has one of the strictest voter photo ID laws in the nation, a law which was enacted despite lack of evidence of the crime of voter impersonation at the polls.
Research from the Brennan Center for Justice, VoteRiders and the University of Maryland revealed that 34.5 million voting-age US citizens --14.5% of eligible voters – lack an unexpired photo ID with their current name and address on it and may face difficulties at the polls as a result. It’s worth noting that many DMV offices in the state have very limited hours, and many residents must travel long distances in rural areas with limited access to public transportation. This is especially burdensome for those without a car or those with disabilities.
While the proposed amendment would not significantly alter the current voter ID law, it would limit the court's ability to protect voters disenfranchised by the law and make it harder to remove the photo ID requirement.
|  | The LWV online Voter Guide VOTE411.org is live with information on state and local candidates running for office in the Spring 2025 April 1 election. Candidates have been invited to answer questions, and their answers are published verbatim.
Will you help us get the word out by letting at least 5 people know about Vote411.org?
It's easy with our sample email. The email can be modified as you wish. You can also post information on social media, send texts or informally let friends and family know about this valuable resource. Now, more than ever, it is important to know and understand the positions of the candidates we elect. If you have any questions, please contact Anita Gulotta-Connelly at a.gulotta-connelly@lwvmilwaukee.org.
| Nationwide Rallies April 5
A national day of action is planned for Saturday, April 5, with hundreds of rallies nationwide. The "Hands Off" event is billed as a peaceful protest drawing organizations and people concerned about recent actions taken at the federal and state levels that target public services, reproductive rights, public education spending, voting rights, and many other areas of government spending and policy.
The Milwaukee event is noon to 2 pm at the Federal Building, 517 E. Wisconsin Ave.
More information here | Early Voting Higher than in '23
In-person absentee (early) voting is brisk this year, at nearly double the early votes cast in the spring 2023 election, according to an article in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Both elections included a race for a Supreme Court seat that would decide the partisan leaning of the Court. As of Thursday, March 20, nearly 60,000 ballots had been cast.
The 2023 election was the most expensive, in terms of campaign spending, of any state supreme court race in the nation. This year's election spending has already exceeded that spending level. According to the Wisconsin Elections Commission absentee ballot requests have increased by 22%. Read the full article here | Owley Honored For Community Service
As part of their Women's History Month celebration, the Milwaukee County Board recognized LWVMC Board Member Candice Owley for her decades of community service. In bestowing the honor, District 4 Supervisor Jack Eckblad said, it was "a particular privilege to rise today in honor of Candice Owley, who has spent more than 40 years exemplifying the belief that 'we all do better when we all do better.'"
Supervisor Eckblad noted that Candice spent 40 years leading the Wisconsin Federation of Nurses and Health Professionals, where she fought for quality health care for everyone, and for quality working conditions for those who deliver it. Her advocacy work also focused on building awareness of the public health impacts of climate change, preserving democratic norms for the next generation, and dignity for the workers whose labor form the bedrock of our society.
In addition to LWVMC, Candice is currently, or has been, involved with the Milwaukee Chapter of the American Red Cross, Health Care Taskforce, Citizen Action, and the Mental Health Association, among others. |  | NOW IS THE TIME…
Following the showings of Most Dangerous Women this past year, at the 2024 LWVMC Annual Meeting and the LWV Birthday Party at St. John’s on the Lake, it seems like the right time to honor and learn more about the suffragists.
The Fund Development Committee suggested that the donor recognition in the LWVMC Annual Meeting Program include naming the tiers of giving levels. The Board suggested honoring suffragists and the Committee has been working to accomplish that.
The founder of the League of Women Voters is Carrie Chapman Catt. You may recognize the picture below. The League’s Founder has been featured on the home page of the LWVMC website for the last several months.
Carrie Chapman Catt (1859-1947), an early organizer for the National Woman Suffrage Association, co-founded the International Woman Suffrage Alliance, bringing women around the world together to advocate for women’s rights, particularly suffrage. She founded the League of Women Voters in 1920. |  |  | JOIN THE SILENT AUCTION TEAM!
Volunteers are still needed to help with the Silent Auction we will be having during our May 31st Annual Meeting. Please consider joining the Silent Auction Team.
Team members will:
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Solicit donations from area businesses and organizations
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Accept and catalog donations at the office
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Prepare donations for display at the event
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Create descriptions of the donations for display with the items and for handout information
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Transport and unload auction items to and from the office on the day of the event
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Set up the auction items: decorate the tables and arrange the display of the auction items
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Assist auction buyers at the event: collect cash and checks and help with bagging up purchases
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Assist with the cleanup after the auction is over
If you can be part of this effort, please click the button below to volunteer as soon as possible! Please contact me directly with questions at my personal email address of eharrisce@aol.com. Thank you!
Elizabeth Harris-Hodge
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- Want to fight money in politics?
- Interested in our Criminal Justice System?
- Care about what is occurring with our neighboring Immigrants in WI?
- Want to fight for Reproductive Rights in WI for your daughters and granddaughters?
| | | Watch for the Advocacy Program Interest Survey coming your way via email.
We want to hear from YOU and what YOU CARE ABOUT.
Please help us and take 5 minutes to fill out the survey.
| | The Reproductive Rights Committee kicked off their ReproWarriors campaign with an intergenerational event held at UW-Milwaukee in February. They joined forces with Milwaukee’s local Planned Parenthood Generation Action team to attract Generation Z attendees in addition to LWV members.
Contact g.sklodowska@lwvmilwaukee.org to join the fight! | MONEY MATTERS
Many of us are getting our tax returns ready now well before they are due on April 15. While we need to pay taxes to support our government, most of us don’t want to pay more than our fair share. One way to be smart about paying taxes is to be smart about our charitable contributions.
Are you 70 ½ years or older? If you are, do you take advantage of making your charitable contributions with qualified charitable distributions (QCD) from your IRA? These can be used to offset your IRA Required Minimum Distribution (RMD).
Consult with your tax accountant and/or your financial advisor. Consider making the League of Women Voters of Milwaukee County one of your priority charities. Direct your IRA custodian to make the check payable to “LWVMC.” It is important to make LWV-Milwaukee County the recipient: EIN 39-6096750
Thank you for including LWVMC as a recipient of your charitable contributions!!
| Join White Women Facing Racism
Become part of a community of white women who are determined to do something about racism in our country, who don’t want to do this work alone, who won’t sit back at this pivotal moment of our country’s history and do nothing, and who see a need to transform their thoughts and attitudes toward racism and to act to dismantle the racism in our society. In small groups, women gather to read, discuss and reflect on racism. The next session begins in June 2025. Click here to learn more about the program and to register. Mary Delgado, LWVMC member, will co-facilitate the group. Check out the reading list here. |  | Catch up on the entire Infrastructure series--now on Youtube!
What is in my drinking water? When is a new railway going to be built near me? How do I make sure I'm recycling everything I can? We all have questions about the infrastructure we interact with every day, and Wisconsin's civil engineers and field experts have the answers in the 2024 Report Card for Wisconsin's Infrastructure webinar series. This nine-part series covering WI's 17 areas of infrastructure is now complete and recordings are available on the LWVWI Youtube page. Learn about the whole series or watch the webinar recordings here. | March 28, 10:00am | East Side Library | 2023 N. Cramer
This month we will discuss the following book: Valiant Vel: Vel Phillips and the Fight for Fairness and Equality, by Jerrianne Hayslett. Even if you haven’t read the book, our discussions are always interesting and it’s a good way to get acquainted with fellow League members. |  |
Tuesday, April 15 at Noon with MICAH’s Health Equity Organizer Diannia Merriett-Alabi
Diannia has worked in education for over 20 years. Her teaching philosophy has always been that kids learn best when they feel welcomed, valued, and safe. Diannia Merriett-Alabi was born and raised in Milwaukee. She is the proud parent of one daughter and one granddaughter. Diannia has been very active in amplifying the voice of marginalized people. In college she was the president of the Black student union. Diannia works to challenge and dismantle racism, and other forms of injustice in Milwaukee County and beyond in its community systems. She is the founder of “People Advocating Greendale Equity.”
Zoom Link Meeting ID: 898 7075 0195 Passcode: 110973 |  | | Recent History…
From MKE Downtown blog post on October 20, 2020:
Out of the silence, the voice of a nation emerged. In recent months, the streets of downtown Milwaukee filled with artworks inspiring the public to vote. Most recently, nationally acclaimed street artist Shepard Fairey completed his “Voting Rights are Human Rights” mural on the Colby Abbot Building, at 755 N. Milwaukee Street in East Town. You may recognize his signature style from his now fabled depiction of President Barack Obama in his "Hope" poster. You can see the mural at the intersection of Milwaukee Street and Wells Street, facing south. Fairey was joined by four Wisconsin-based artists to complete the project in just a matter of days, including Tyanna Buie, Niki Johnson, Tom Jones and Claudio Martinez, and Dyani White Hawk of Minnesota.
Source: 2020 (Oct. 20) Experience Downtown Blog, MKE Downtown. Retrieved on March 18, 2025 HERE. |  | | UW-Madison Elections Research Center
April 24, 1:15- 5 pm., In-person or virtual
The Fragility and Performance of Democracy in the U.S.:Taking Stock After the First 100 Days of the Trump Administration will explore the first 100 days of Trump’s presidency. Intense partisanship, public distrust in institutions, and concerns about government accountability have raised doubts about the sustainability of U.S. democracy. At the 100 day mark of the Trump presidency, this event evaluates both the current situation and the overall health of the American political system.
Hear scholars share their insights on the new politicization of the administrative state, presidential messaging, and the state of democracy and governance in America.
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America’s Black Holocaust Museum Tour
Saturday, March 29 | 1 pm – 3 pm | $10
Rotary District 6270 (SE Wisconsin) welcomes League of Women Voters of Milwaukee County members and friends to join them for a tour of American’s Black Holocaust Museum (ABHM) on Saturday, March 29 from 1-3 pm. $10 admission.
Founded by lynching survivor Dr. James Cameron, ABHM is a unique historical and memorial museum focused on the Black Holocaust in the United States. ABHM promotes racial repair, reconciliation, and healing through awareness. Attendees will experience a guided tour through the museum led by a Griot from the West African tradition of storytellers.
After the tour, there will be a pay-your-own-way post-museum gathering at Garfield’s 502, a beloved neighborhood eatery and bar, 502. W. Garfield Avenue. Garfield’s is walking distance from ABHM. Tour participants will have an opportunity to share their impressions of the Museum. If you are interested in attending, contact Mike Kloehn at mkcheesehead@icloud.com. |  |
Accessing Members-Only Resources on the LWVMC Website
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| Support Local Democracy. Support Your League.
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Thank you! LWVMC
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