Thread by @benwikler

BREAKING: Supreme Court upholds Republican-appointed judges’ decision siding with Trump’s GOP on Wisconsin voting rights. Absentee ballots *must* arrive by 8pm on Election Day. We’re dialing up a huge voter education campaign—chip in to support: wisdems.org/SCOTUS

https://twitter.com/patrickdmarley/status/1320870088489226243

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW: You can still request an absentee ballot in Wisconsin. When it arrives, fill it out, get a witness signature & address on the envelope, and *hand-deliver it* by 8pm 11/3. Find your local clerk or drop box location at iwillvote.com/wi

You can also early vote in person, or vote on Election Day, and you can same-day register in Wisconsin. The rules haven't changed. But the Supreme Court failed an opportunity to expand democracy. Seize your power & hit back: VOTE VOTE VOTE!
jsonline.com/story/news/pol…

BACKGROUND: The day before Wisconsin’s April 7 state Supreme Court election, the US Supreme Court decided that absentee ballots could be *postmarked* on Election Day, and would still count if they arrived in next six days. 79k+ such ballots were counted. (Trump '16 margin: 23k.)

In September, federal judge William Conley granted voters the same relief: six days of overtime for absentee ballots to arrive. But he knew the GOP would appeal, even putting a stay on implementation. Sure enough, they did. The overtime didn’t take effect.
jsonline.com/story/news/pol…

GOP-appointed judges on the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals, including Trump appointee Amy St Eve, ruled against relief for Wisconsin voters. As (also GOP-appointed!) Judge Rovner wrote in her dissent, “this court leaves voters to their own devices."

This is part of a broader trend: Trump’s appointees to appeals courts are making decisions against expanding voting rights. Tonight, eight days before the election, the United States Supreme Court upheld one of these decisions in 2020’s must-win state.
nytimes.com/2020/10/17/us/…

SO—here’s what we’re gonna do about this. As of this morning, 362,236 Wisconsinites had absentee ballots that they hadn’t returned. We’re going to make sure these voters know that their ballot MUST be in by 8pm on Nov 3 to be counted. & the best thing to do is return ballots NOW.

We’re phone banking. We’re text banking. We’re friend banking. We’re drawing chalk murals, driving sound trucks through neighborhoods, & flying banners over Milwaukee. We’re running ads in every conceivable medium. Your donations help us run more of them. wisdems.org/scotus

For the next eight days, your time is your superpower. Don't just donate—volunteer to help @WisDems turn out every possible Democrat. This thread has all the links you need:

https://twitter.com/benwikler/status/1320799518900867074

We want Wisconsinites to know how to vote so clearly that they dream about it, sing about it in the shower, and explain it to their kids. Vital messages: turn in your ballot today, & make a plan. As Milwaukee County Exec @DavidCrowleyWI and his daughter explain in this ad.

Digital ad campaigns are one thing you can keep expanding all the way to election day. We're testing and running a *lot* of ads, & expanding the most effective ones, tailored to different communities. This final-sprint work matters. Late money matters. Now even more than before.

Earlier today, the NYT pointed out that a case about voting rights in Wisconsin was awaiting a SCOTUS decision. But partisan justices decided they didn't even need to wait for Amy Coney Barrett to be seated before they made their choice.

https://twitter.com/nytimes/status/1320792647582289920

The confirmation of Amy Coney Barrett almost exactly coinciding with a Supreme Court decision that failed to side with expanding voting rights is a perfect encapsulation of the GOP’s view of the courts: as a weapon against democracy.

To overcome this cynicism, we have to ensure that the public knows the truth that the GOP is trying to hide: if we use it, the people still have the power. When we vote, we overcome. Our ballots are our defiance. They smash norms? We smash voting records.

Your time. Your money. All of our lives. This—from now until 8pm on November 3—is our moment. Let’s make the absolute most of it. Chip in here, sign up for some volunteer shifts, share this thread, and let’s go, fight, and win. wisdems.org/scotus

This spring (wrote Justice Kagan): “Because of the court’s ruling, state officials counted 80,000 ballots — about 5 percent of the total cast — that were postmarked by Election Day but would have been discarded for arriving a few days later.”
nytimes.com/2020/10/26/us/…

Volunteers on our massive virtual phone banks spent this weekend telling voters that it's time to turn in their ballots.

We even built a site specifically to help with that: wisdems.org/dropbox

Sign up for a phone bank shift: wisdems.org/talktovoters

https://twitter.com/fabulavancouver/status/1320902475780550656