They lift your spirits, prompt you to think, make you feel grateful and inspire you to do more. They connect you to our community, shining a spotlight on what's good about our city. They're stories that are Uniquely Milwaukee.
Election Day is coming up. On Nov. 3, Wisconsin residents will vote for candidates in Congress, the State Senate, the Assembly, governor and even three questions about amending the state constitution.
With all of that at stake, information is key — and students at Cristo Rey Jesuit High School in Milwaukee are making sure voters have it.
The school’s Civic Engagement Team includes 10 seniors, including Daniel Gonzalez, who was well aware of the stakes for the upcoming election. “It's mainly important to make sure that everyone knows what's at risk,” he said. “Either changing the ballot, the Constitution, or what they would possibly bring to us since many different senators would bring many different things. It can also bring many different consequences to our communities.”
The team is new to Cristo Rey this school year, and so far they’ve hosted voter-registration drives for their peers and staff. More recently, they’ve taken their energy into the neighborhoods for canvassing efforts that take place every Tuesday and Thursday leading up to the election.
“Most of the households we've been to, we've had to leave information since they're not home or they're not responsive,” Gonzalez said. “But the people who have opened their doors are really kind to us, and they’re really respectful of what we're trying to do here for our community.”
Ben Rangel, who teaches AP U.S. Government and Politics at Cristo Rey, leads the team. In the past, he’s worked with nonpartisan organizations that encourage students and staff to participate in civic engagement. This year, he saw the Civic Engagement Team as a crucial way to address low voter turnout in the area.
“The South Side community here in Milwaukee close to our school has some of the lowest voter turnout in the city and even some of the lowest in the state,” he said. “I saw students in my classroom, I saw students in the building, alumni in particular, who want to be involved and want people to vote and participate in our democracy.
“I thought, ‘How could we harvest a little bit more of that energy and that people power to change the outcome for voter turnout here on the South Side?’”
The answer, in part, was adding even more energy from other similarly minded organizations, like the League of Women Voters and VIA Community Development Corporation. Before a recent canvassing session, they gathered with the team to talk strategy.
Rangel went through the plan, street by street, and the technology the group uses to guide them and the voters they meet. VIA’s Kevin Solis talked about the people they were trying to connect with, including those who tend to skip elections in non-presidential years and others who voted in the last gubernatorial race but may need a reminder about the one coming up.
Maria Avila from the League of Women Voters was on hand because she believes educating the city’s youth about voting will help build their confidence. “By engaging the little ones as young as possible, they become comfortable with voting,” she explained. “They become comfortable and knowledgeable with associating their vote to their government and the actions of their government.”
Cristo Rey senior Jenni Alvarez joined this particular canvassing effort, but it wasn’t her only contribution to democracy that day. She also spent the morning helping with a voter-registration drive at the high school.
“I think seeing my classmates be active and taking that step into being able to vote … was really exciting,” she said. “They've never done it before, and I'm looking forward to my turn.”
Though Alvarez and Gonzalez aren’t quite old enough to vote in these midterm elections, they haven’t lost sight of the importance in being the first — or one of the first — in their families to vote.
“It makes me feel kind of weird being the first one in my family to actually be able to vote, but [it’s] also being able to help our neighbors learn more about what is at risk,” Gonzalez said.
“People voting in this neighborhood is kinda low,” Alvarez added. “So I also took that as an inspiration to be out here and be that voice for others … because this is my first time, so watching them do it is kind of like building up the courage for me to do it so it's not as scary.”
“I think noticing how the news and TikTok and social media … noticing that something’s wrong or something’s going on, I feel like others should know that,” she continued. “I think they should do something because their voice has power.”
