Political violence, including threats to poll workers and other politically motivated attacks or harassment, has increased in the United States in the past decade.
In Wisconsin, that’s led to more bipartisan, pro-democracy efforts.
People met for one such effort last Saturday at the Civil War Museum in Kenosha. It was called Wisconsinites Uniting for a Safe Election Season, organized by Urban Rural Action and others, with panelists from All in Wisconsin, Civic Health of Wisconsin, Protect Democracy and more.
The main idea? That every community member can do something to prevent political violence.
In breakout sessions, participants learned how to have constructive dialogue instead of grandstanding and debates, or how to spot warning signs that someone’s on a pathway to violence.
In one exercise, Michael Holden led a group of about 30 people in a game of rock paper scissors. Holden is the local coordinator with Urban Rural Action, a nonpartisan group that brings people together to solve challenges.
Whoever lost rock paper scissors would cheer on the winner in the next round, and on and on until there were only two players left. By the final match, each finalist had a raucous crowd supporting them.
The message behind this game? People get really invested when it’s “us versus them.” That’s a message worth noting this election season, says Michelle Gahee, one of the participants.
“[People think] it’s us who are right and them who are not right and good,’ Gahee says. “Even at the polls that can cause a division, it can cause problems of people policing the polls, of people intimidating people at the polls, because they want their team to win.”
Those who work in elections say they’ve experienced an increase in threatening behavior from the public. During a special election earlier this year, disruptive right wing election observers were thrown out of a Glendale polling place. In 2022, a man wielding a knife told West Bend poll workers to “stop the voting.”
David Haynes is a former newspaper editor and leader of the Wisconsin Alliance for Civic Trust or WisACT. He was a panelist at the event.
“I talked to a clerk recently who said that she's had to call the sheriff to throw people out of her office who were abusive,” says Haynes. “This is happening. And that's political violence. It doesn't have to be physical because [it’s] changing the way that people operate. And it's forcing some really good people out of public life.”
Haynes also referenced GOP congressman Mike Gallagher’s decision to step down, after he received death threats and other harassment.
Groups like WisACT, Urban Rural Action, and Keep Our Republic are encouraging bipartisan solutions. They’re trying to cast a wide enough net to include people who might be skeptical of election systems.
That includes Joel Lashley, who’s participating in Urban Rural Action’s program against targeted violence in southeast Wisconsin. He writes curriculum for conflict resolution as a living. He says, “It seems that we have an epidemic of conflict in America, a lack of curiosity and respect about each other's views of the world. We have to find better ways to resolve them other than, you know, violence.”
Lashley voted for Republican former President Donald Trump in 2020 and is undecided now. Trump has falsely claimed the 2020 election was stolen. Multiple certifications, audits, lawsuits, and even a recount have confirmed that Democrat Joe Biden won Wisconsin. Lashley describes the conversation around it as “a lot of political swaggering back and forth, and that comes from both sides.”
He says open and honest dialogues are the solution. “I would hope that everybody would be concerned about how elections are run. You know, such extreme points of view, like, there is no voter fraud to, you know, the elections are rife with voter fraud. Reality is usually somewhere in the middle.”
There have been fewer than 200 fraud cases prosecuted in Wisconsin from 2012 to now, and half of those cases were because someone was on probation and thought they could vote, according to panelist Mary Beth Collins of Civic Health of Wisconsin, which is part of the UW-Madison School of Human Ecology Center for Community and Nonprofit studies.
“So, think about how many elections there have been in those 12 years and how low those numbers are,” she says. “We don't actually have a problem with our elections being fraudulent.”
But since the 2020 election, Republican legislators in Wisconsin have taken issue with a wide range of election processes, including absentee ballot drop boxes, witness certifications on absentee ballots, outside money in elections, and rules around who can return an absentee ballot. That, along with Trump’s rhetoric, has left some voters skeptical of elections.
These pro-Democracy groups in Wisconsin are trying to “demystify” elections by explaining the checks and balances woven into the system. In Wisconsin, that includes the fact that election results are certified at the municipal level, the county level, and again at the state level.
Joel Lashley says he has more work to do on understanding how elections are run, and says he’s open to being educated. His wish is for people to be able to go to the polls and not look around with suspicion, “But instead, look across the room at each other and nod and smile. And think ‘I'm glad you're here, too. And I will accept whatever outcome this election has.’”
Groups including Urban Rural Action, WisACT and Keep Our Republic plan to hold more events to promote informed and peaceful elections in the lead up to November..
Here are links to get involved or find out more:
