Wisconsin: The RNC’s Voter Intimidation Efforts

Through lawsuits designed to purge voter rolls, bills to increase voter ID requirements and appeals to peel back mail-in voting, Republicans are using tactics to make it harder to vote. Swing states have become a key target of voter suppression legislation. The Republican National Committee’s “Protect the Vote Tour” is recruiting volunteer poll watchers and lawyers across the country that can best be described as a “Deter the Vote Tour.” Its strategy is to stoke unfounded panic about alleged voter fraud and intensify barriers to vote for any voters they deem suspect, particularly voters of color. The RNC is committed to enlisting 100,000 poll volunteers. The group is also communicating with sympathetic boards of elections, secretaries of state, governors, and local and state parties to alter or add laws that align with them.

In Wisconsin, a swing state where many hold tightly to Trump’s 2020 claims of a stolen election and believe the 2024 election could be distorted by fraud, the “Protect the Vote Tour” threatens to fuel election denialism and adds to a growing push by right-wing groups in the state to challenge election processes. Last month at the county fairgrounds in Elkhorn, Wisconsin hosted the GOP’s “Protect the Vote Tour” in an effort to recruit volunteers. The crowd of Republican activists who attended the training seminar there on September 13 were impassioned. “The last [election] was stolen, so I’m looking at this one to keep it safe,” said Mike Semler, an attendee.

Rep. Bryan Steil in a speech in front of a stack of hay bales, reflected Semler’s debunked concerns. “Places like Washington, D.C. they not only allow noncitizens to vote in municipal elections, they’re using taxpayer dollars to encourage [it],” said Steil. He has represented Wisconsin’s 1st congressional district since 2019. Steil chairs the House Administration Committee which oversees federal elections. There is no evidence to support Steil’s implication that there’s a Democratic push for the legalization of noncitizen voting in state or federal elections. Noncitizens were permitted to vote in federal, state, and local elections in 33 states between 1776 and 1924 when Missouri became the last state in the country to ban noncitizen voting in federal elections after amending its state constitution to bar the practice. And since 1996, noncitizen voting in federal elections has been a crime punishable with fines and imprisonment.

Last week Wisconsin students got texts meant to scare them away from voting. The unsolicited text went to cell phones of people in their early 20’s on University of Wisconsin campuses and elsewhere. It said: “WARNING: Violating WI Statutes 12.13 & 6.18 may result in fines up to $10,000 or 3.5 years in prison. Don’t vote in a state where you’re not eligible.”

Voter intimidation is a crime. Wisconsin Attorney General Josh Kaul recently reminded the public that it’s against the law to intimidate voters or threaten election workers at the polls. If anyone witnesses or experiences any of these actions, the Wisconsin DOJ recommends reporting it immediately both to election officials and law enforcement.

Wisconsin, a swing state where many hold tightly to Trump’s 2020 claims of a stolen election and believe the 2024 election could be distorted by fraud, the “Protect the Vote Tour” threatens to fuel election denialism and adds to a growing push by right-wing groups in the state to challenge election processes. Last month the county fairgrounds in Elkhorn, Wisconsin hosted the GOP’s “Protect the Vote Tour” in an effort to recruit volunteers. The crowd of Republican activists who attended the training seminar there on September 13 were impassioned. “The last [election] was stolen, so I’m looking at this one to keep it safe,” said Mike Semler, an attendee.

Rep. Bryan Steil in a speech in front of a stack of hay bales, reflected Semler’s debunked concerns. “Places like Washington, D.C. they not only allow noncitizens to vote in municipal elections, they’re using taxpayer dollars to encourage [it],” said Steil. He has represented Wisconsin’s 1st congressional district since 2019. Steil chairs the House Administration Committee which oversees federal elections. There is no evidence to support Steil’s implication that there’s a Democratic push for the legalization of noncitizen voting in state or federal elections. Noncitizens were permitted to vote in federal, state, and local elections in 33 states between 1776 and 1924 when Missouri became the last state in the country to ban noncitizen voting in federal elections after amending its state constitution to bar the practice. And since 1996, noncitizen voting in federal elections has been a crime punishable with fines and imprisonment.

Last week Wisconsin students got texts meant to scare them away from voting. The unsolicited text went to cell phones of people in their early 20’s on University of Wisconsin campuses and elsewhere. It said: “WARNING: Violating WI Statutes 12.13 & 6.18 may result in fines up to $10,000 or 3.5 years in prison. Don’t vote in a state where you’re not eligible.”

Voter intimidation is a crime. Wisconsin Attorney General Josh Kaul recently reminded the public that it’s against the law to intimidate voters or threaten election workers at the polls. If anyone witnesses or experiences any of these actions, the Wisconsin DOJ recommends reporting it immediately both to election officials and law enforcement.