The election this past spring to fill an open seat on the Wisconsin Supreme Court was a record-setting event. For one, it was the highest turnout ever for a spring election in a year that didn’t include a presidential election.
According to the Wisconsin Election Commission, of the nearly 3.6 million registered voters in the state, more than 1.8 million participated this past April. To be even more precise, the election drew 51.7% of registered voters to the polls.
But it wasn’t all good news for fans of participatory democracy. Milwaukee County lagged well behind that pace, with 112,815 ballots cast of the 290,462 registered voters in the county for a rate of 38.8%. By comparison, Dane County — the state’s second most populous county — drew 62.3% of its 387,928 registered voters to the ballot box.
Never one to back down from a challenge like that, nonpartisan organization #iVoted has set up an all-ages concert at Nō Studios in the Deer District for National Voter Registration Day on Sept. 19. The show featuring Dead Horses and Wave Chapelle opens its doors at 6 p.m. and is free to attend via a couple different mechanisms:
- Check your voter registration at the door (with an option to register right there if you’re not).
- Underage and future voters just need to say which election they’ll be 18 for and why they’re excited to vote.
- Non-citizens and anyone ineligible to vote can enter after sharing why they’re excited to attend the event.
“We’re all coming off a high of incredible turnout in Wisconsin’s 2023 spring election for the state supreme court and more,” #iVoted founder and CEO Emily White said in a press release. “Despite these historic numbers and enthusiasm for voting, I was disheartened to learn that Milwaukee lagged much of the rest of the state in voter turnout.
“League of Women Voters of Milwaukee County is a crucial organization on the ground [that] informed me of this, which is why we’re putting our efforts into producing our first-ever voter registration show with the #iVoted model.”
One of the ways the league will be involved is a brief panel discussion to kick off the event at 6:30 p.m., with director of communications Peggy Creer on stage with Bianca Shaw from All Voting Is Local Wisconsin. Wave Chapelle will follow at 7:15 p.m. and Dead Horses in the closing spot at 8 p.m.
For more information on the show, visit #iVoted’s website.
