Taking Action, Making a Difference and Getting Involved During Difficult Times in Our State, Our Country and The World

For release: Wednesday - September17, 2025

Image: Our Wisconsin, Our Constitution

 The Alternative to Despair and Discouragement is Engagement for Positive Change

The profoundly disturbing and almost incomprehensible events of the last week in Utah, earlier this summer in Minnesota, and elsewhere in the nation and in the world can leave us all wondering if there is anything we can do to change the current trajectory toward chaos and division. The seemingly headlong dive into depression and disaster we sometimes feel is overtaking many of us in many different ways. If we choose to do nothing then nothing will change for the better. Or, we can choose to engage and try to do what each individual can to improve the community, state, nation and the world in which we live and strive to make life better for ourselves and for others.

The choice is obvious, but the question is what we can do to get involved in moving things in a positive and more hopeful direction. We have some suggestions!

Common Cause Wisconsin (CC/WI) is proud to join state partners in sponsoring events that increase our community connections and our civic engagement. Join us and your neighbors in one or more of these events near you!

Fair Voting Maps Community Hearings Roll On

Last week, CC/WI was happy to host a webinar detailing the comprehensive statewide reform initiative of the WI Fair Maps Coalition. The redistricting reform seeks to wrest control of Wisconsin's redistricting process of state legislative and congressional district voting maps from partisan legislators. The process would entrust the voters of Wisconsin with the task of drawing the maps through an Independent Redistricting Commission (IRC) and establishing that voter-centric process in time for the next redistricting process following the 2030 Census.

In case you missed the virtual presentation last week, here is the link to the video recording.

The Wisconsin Fair Maps Coalition continues to bring community hearings to new places across the state this Fall. We want to hear from YOU! Join local leaders and activists in these interactive spaces to shape the future of redistricting in Wisconsin.

Stops and hearings are currently scheduled for:

• Madison on September 25

• Milwaukee on September 26

• La Crosse on October 14

• Winnebago County on October 15

AND MORE!

Check out all the locations and dates and plan to attend!

Then join an outdoor public Rally to End Gerrymandering at the Capitol on October 16 from Noon-1pm.

Join the Fair Maps Coalition for this rally at the Capitol to demand an end to partisan gerrymandering once and for all! Go here for more information and to register.

​

Our Wisconsin, Our Constitution!

Join us for interactive, community-focused events exploring the Wisconsin Constitution and how amendments shape our democracy both positively and negatively.

At this events, we will:

• Learn how the amendment process works and why it matters.

• Unpack the impact of recent harmful amendments and the way the process has been weaponized.

• Explore tools, ideas, and reforms that can put power back in the hands of the people.

• Engage in fun, interactive activities that make constitutional history come alive.

Come for the education, stay for the community connection, and leave with concrete ways to stand up for a stronger, fairer democracy. For more information and to register for an event near you go to: bit.ly/OurWisConstitution

Phonebank for a Better Federal Budget

A federal budget that works for the people is currently being fought for in the U.S. Capitol in Washington, DC. The People’s Promise is a long-term commitment to build a better democracy from the ground up - powered by people like you. Right now, we are calling on members of Congress to urge them to pass a federal budget that upholds the People’s Promise. Let’s flood the US Capitol switchboard with stories and pressure on our US House and Senate Members! Sign up here to empower people to advocate for a better federal budget.​

No Kings October Rally

On October 18th, Common Cause members and activists are urged to join with communities across the nation to rise up to make clear to President Trump that in this country, we don't have kings or wannabe dictators. America belongs to us - the people. No Thrones. No Crowns. No Kings.

With nearly 30 events already planned in Wisconsin, you can find one near you to join. More information at https://www.nokings.org/. Join the rally. Join the movement.

There you have it. A variety of actions and events you can participate in to improve the state of our state and nation in the weeks ahead. Choose one or several things to involve yourself and make a difference. I guarantee you will feel a great deal better about the direction of democracy and our national purpose by joining with others to push for positive change. And particularly now it is worth repeating what the American anthropologist Margaret Mead famously asserted a century ago:

"Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has."

On Wisconsin. Forward!

Jay Heck, Executive Director

--------------------------

Jay Heck

608/512-9363 (cell)

Common Cause in Wisconsin
152 Johnson St, Suite 212
Madison, WI 53703

Read More...

Intro only...

A Terrible Idea Whose Time Should Never Come to Wisconsin

For release: Wednesday - January 8, 2025

Image: Wisconsin Capitol under banner "Holding Power Accountable"

Tell Your State Legislators to Oppose Enshrining Voter Suppression in the Constitution

The November 2024 election in Wisconsin produced results in the state legislature that much more accurately reflect the evenly divided, 50/50 state Wisconsin really is. To underscore that point, Democratic U.S. Senator Tammy Baldwin won reelection by just 29,000 votes out of 3.4 million cast and Republican Donald Trump won the state by about the same 29,000 vote margin. By almost every measure we are the most “purple” state in the nation.

One might think that given those results and with a more closely divided state legislature (Republicans now hold a 18 to 15 majority over Democrats in the State Senate and a 55 to 44 margin in the Assembly), there would be more bipartisanship and working together on the part of Republicans and Democrats. This would put a stop to the hyper partisanship and polarization of the past 14 years. Certainly, the voters of Wisconsin have spoken loudly that they seek more cooperation and agreement in place of continued division, distrust and partisan conflict.

Unfortunately, Republican leaders in both chambers of the Legislature are doubling down on the hyper partisanship by making their first order of business in the 2025-26 legislative session, passage of an extremely divisive and misguided constitutional amendment. They seek to enshrine in the Wisconsin Constitution one of the most onerous voter suppression measures in the nation – Wisconsin’s 13-year-old voter photo ID law.

That constitutional amendment is embodied in Senate Joint Resolution 2 in the State Senate and Assembly Joint Resolution 1 in the State Assembly and both are being suddenly scheduled and rammed through committees and fast-tracked to the floor of each chamber this week and next so that it can appear on the April 1st Spring election ballot. This is another effort to confuse the public, avoid bipartisan consensus and bypass the Governor to make law by amending the state constitution.

These measures have only Republican supporters in the Legislature. Not a single Democratic legislator, nor Gov. Evers, nor any voting rights organization support these measures or maneuvers. They should be defeated and discarded because they make will make it more difficult for many eligible Wisconsinites to vote because the voter ID restrictions are limited and complicated.

"I am extremely disappointed that the Republican legislators are continuing to ignore their constituents,” said Penny Bernard Schaber, the Chair of Common Cause Wisconsin and a former state representative from Appleton. “Wisconsinites want legislators to cooperate and work together for all of Wisconsin. It is long past time for our Republican legislators to recognize this and to get down to work," she added.

Wisconsin makes it more difficult for its citizens to vote than almost any state in the nation. The voter photo identification law – first passed in 2011 and finally made effective in 2016 – is perhaps the most restrictive and extreme in the nation. It is ranked among the 9 most restrictive voter ID laws and it is by far the most extreme in the upper Midwest.

In our region neither Minnesota nor Illinois require any photo ID to vote. Michigan does but allows voters to sign an affidavit attesting to their identity if they do not have the requisite photo ID. Indiana and Ohio have strict photo ID laws but neither state is as restrictive or extreme as Wisconsin. What did we do to deserve such harsh and suspicious treatment? Proponents of this voting suppression measure contend it is needed to prevent non-existent voter “fraud.” But the facts show us there is no voter fraud. It just doesn’t exist. There wasn’t any in Wisconsin before the 2011 voter ID law was passed. There isn’t any in those states without voter ID requirements now.

Why have it then? Because Republicans have calculated that requiring specific forms of photo ID to vote will make it more difficult for certain segments of Wisconsin voters to be able to obtain that form of ID. This includes people of color, residents of urban areas who rely on public transportation and have no need for a driver’s license, and college and university students. Enshrining this onerous law into the Wisconsin Constitution will make it much more difficult to repeal or even to modify.

Wisconsin would be one of the very first states in the nation to enshrine voter suppression in its state constitution. Do Wisconsin voters deserve that kind of contempt and ill-treatment by a slim legislative majority for the sole purpose of clinging to political power? Of course not.

Take action today by contacting both your Wisconsin State Senator and your State Representative and demand they demonstrate their respect for you by voting AGAINST Senate Joint Resolution 2 in the State Senate and Assembly Joint Resolution 1 in the State Assembly.

Find your State Senator and your State Representative from the official Wisconsin State Legislature webpage here where you will be provided names, phone numbers, and a link to their email addresses.

On Wisconsin. Forward!

Jay Heck, Executive Director, Common Cause Wisconsin

--------------------------

Jay Heck

608/512-9363 (cell)

Common Cause in Wisconsin
152 Johnson St, Suite 212
Madison, WI 53703

Read More...

Intro only...

The fight for the survival of democracy will be won at the ballot box

For release: Monday - September 16, 2024

Image: Mikayla Hughes singing during an early voting gathering at the Midtown Center in Milwaukee. 

(Photo | Isiah Holmes, Wisconsin Examiner).

This Opinion Editorial was published in the Wisconsin Examiner – September 15, 2024

“The cure for the ills of democracy is more democracy,” is a famous maxim from the early 20th century that has been variously attributed to the prominent American social worker and women’s suffrage leader Jane Addams, to the leading American philosopher and psychologist of that era, John Dewey and, most famously, to the iconic former Wisconsin Governor and U.S. Senator Robert M. “Fighting Bob” LaFollette. Regardless of who actually coined that phrase, it was utilized by all three and has proven to be predictive and prescriptive time and again over the years. Now, it may never be more applicable and essential for the survival of our 235-year-old American Experiment in representative self-government than it is today, in 2024.

This year so far in Wisconsin has been an astonishingly positive period for the advancement of democratic engagement and participation after more than a decade of continuous diminishment and destruction of what was once considered the nation’s foremost laboratory of democracy.

Fair maps

In February, after 13 years of enduring one of the most partisan, unfair and unrepresentative political gerrymanders in the nation of our state’s legislative districts, Wisconsinites rejoiced as Gov. Tony Evers signed into law new, much fairer and more competitive state legislative voting maps. The new maps are in effect for 2024 and likely will remain in place until the end of this decade. These maps favor neither Democrats or Republicans. Instead, they much more accurately reflect the very closely divided, 50/50, “blue/red” partisan divide that is Wisconsin, arguably the most “purple” state in the nation.

The return of ballot drop boxes

In July the Wisconsin Supreme Court overturned a misguided and injurious decision made two years ago by the previous court majority that wrongly prohibited the use of secure ballot drop boxes for all Wisconsinites. Disabled and elderly voters and people who live in areas where voting hours are limited used drop boxes to safely and securely return absentee ballots to election clerks in time for them to be counted on Election Day. Eliminating drop boxes was a callous voter suppression measure that was put in place only in Wisconsin and in about a dozen deep red southern and western states. Fortunately, the current Wisconsin Supreme Court majority corrected this travesty of justice and in many (but not all) communities, ballot drop boxes have been restored for the Nov. 5 election and beyond.

Voters reject constitutional amendments

Finally, in August during the partisan primary elections in Wisconsin, voters rose up and decisively defeated two constitutional ballot measures that would have hamstrung the ability of the governor of Wisconsin to distribute federal funds allocated to Wisconsin in times of emergency, such as a natural disaster or pandemic, without the permission of a small group of powerful partisan legislators. When voters were educated about the effect of this last gasp of a gerrymandered partisan legislative majority to seize more power and further upset the critical balance of political power in this state, voters resoundingly voted “No!” Voter turnout in August was higher in this state in a partisan primary election than any other in the past 60 years.

These three momentous and heartening victories for all of the voters of Wisconsin and for democracy signify that if citizens get engaged and informed they will support the expansion of voting rights, people empowerment and the preservation and enhancement of democratic norms and traditions and will defeat attempts to curtail these liberties. The recent developments in Wisconsin also demonstrate that a fully engaged citizenry and very robust voter turnout are as critical to the survival of democracy as oxygen is to the act of breathing and to life itself.

The cure for the ills of democracy in Wisconsin and nationally is voting. When we vote we help to cure the sickness of citizen disengagement that afflicts us as well as the despair, pessimism and cynicism that accompanies that sickness. When we vote we become a healthier and more empowered citizenry. The upcoming election on Nov. 5 is the most important and consequential of any for most of us in our lifetimes. There is no excuse for not actively participating in this election by, at the very least, voting. And each of us can and should do even more to promote voting by expressing its urgency with family members, friends, neighbors, and even strangers if we are able. Vote as if our country and democracy depend on it because in a very real and tangible way, it does.

Jay Heck

Since 1996 Jay Heck has been the Executive Director of Common Cause in Wisconsin, the state’s largest non-partisan citizens political reform advocacy organization with more than 12,000 members and activists.

--------------------------

Jay Heck

608/512-9363 (cell)

Common Cause in Wisconsin
152 Johnson St, Suite 212
Madison, WI 53703

Read More...

Intro only...

Today Is Primary Election Day in Wisconsin! Tuesday – August 13, 2024

For release: Tuesday - August 13, 2024

Image: Freedom to Vote

What You Need to Know to Vote and Have It Counted And to Have Your Voice Heard

It’s no exaggeration to say that this has been one of the most eventful political Summers in memory and it’s not even over yet. Today, we the people can actively begin to weigh in and shape the future of our state, our nation and our lives by exercising the most powerful act of citizenship that each and every one of us possesses: our vote.

Today is primary election day in Wisconsin. For all eligible voters in our state, this is an important preliminary election in which we strengthen our voting “muscle” in preparation for the “main event,” the November 5th general election. This fall, across the nation, the very future of democracy and representative government – the 235-year-old American “experiment” about self-determination – is quite literally on the line.

On Primary Election Day, we “set the table” for what happens in just 84 days from now. And the best way to prepare for November 5th is to vote and have our voices heard today.

Here are the things to know to successfully cast your ballot. Think of these things as a checklist to go through to ensure you have completed all the necessary steps to get this done right.

Absentee Ballot

If you have a mail-in absentee ballot that was mailed to you and you have not returned it yet, be sure to return your completed ballot. Contact your clerk to find out where you can hand-deliver your ballot today. All ballots need to be received no later than 8pm today – Election Day. Remember to follow all instructions to complete the ballot, and the voter and witness information on the envelope. More information about your absentee ballot can be found here.

What to expect at the polls

If you are planning to vote in person at the polls today, read the information below so you are prepared when you show up to vote at your polling location. All polls in Wisconsin are open from 7:00 AM to 8:00 PM.

You can register to vote on Election Day

You can register to vote on Election Day at your voting location. Being registered to vote means being registered at your current address. But if you moved within 28 days of Election Day, you must register and vote using your previous address. Check to see if you are registered to vote at your current address. If you are not registered, be sure to bring a proof of residence document (hard copy or electronic version on your cell phone or tablet) when you go to the polls.

Bring your acceptable form of photo ID for voting

You are required to show a specific form of photo ID in order to vote. If you have a Wisconsin driver's license or ID card, then you’re all set. Other forms of ID work too, and it’s good to check the official Wisconsin Elections Commission list at Bring It to the Ballot to make sure you have what you need.

What if you don't have an acceptable ID for voting today?

You can ask for AND vote with a provisional ballot. But, for your ballot to be counted, you MUST either come back to your polling place with an acceptable form of ID before it closes at 8:00 PM today OR bring your ID to your municipal clerk's office by 4:00 PM the Friday after the primary election (Friday, August 16th).

Know what's on your ballot

Wisconsin is an “open” primary state. That means that Wisconsin does not require voters to register with a party, and voters can choose their party preference on the ballot when they vote. BUT, keep in mind when casting your partisan primary ballot, you must only choose one party and you must only vote for candidates of that party on this ballot. Read the ballot instructions carefully. Visit the Wisconsin Elections Commission's What's on My Ballot page and type in your address to see a sample ballot.

🚨Note also that there are two constitutional ballot questions on this August primary ballot which you can and should vote on regardless of what partisan candidates you vote for. Common Cause Wisconsin recommends you vote “NO” on both constitutional ballot questions.

Get more information on the candidates

Get to know who wants to represent you and which candidate best represents your values before you vote. Find candidate and ballot information from the League of Women Voters of Wisconsin at Vote411.

You can find the list of 2024 Wisconsin State Senate and Assembly candidates who support the nonpartisan redistricting pledge for Wisconsin that Common Cause Wisconsin is tracking here.

Know where your polling place is before you go

Polling places can change. To find out where to go to cast your ballot, visit the Find My Polling Place page on the MyVote Wisconsin website and type in your address. This year in particular voting locations may have changed since new districts were drawn after the redistricting process.

Have questions or need some assistance?

Beyond the resources of your municipal clerk, help is just a call, text, or email away.

• If you experience problems at the polls or have questions, there is help. Call Election Protection at 866-OUR-VOTE (866-687-8683) for support from nonpartisan election protection volunteers.
• Call or text the WI Voter Helpline at 608-285-2141 and you will be contacted by a nonpartisan volunteer who can help answer all your questions. You can also request services such as getting assistance at the DMV to get an ID to vote or having someone witness your absentee ballot.
• Voters with disabilities have the right to an accessible polling place. This includes the right to use an accessible voting machine, getting assistance marking a ballot, and using curbside voting. Call the Disability Rights Wisconsin Voter Hotline for assistance: 1-844-347-8683. Or email: info@disabilityvote.org. Additional online resources are also at the Wisconsin Disability Vote Coalition website.
• Contact Vote Riders if you need immediate assistance with a photo ID to vote. You can get free, in-state ID assistance ASAP from the online form.

That covers it! Please get out there and exercise your precious franchise to choose the candidates you wish to see elected and to decide public policy issues that you believe are in the best interest for you, your family and your community. It’s your voice and your power as a citizen and it counts and matters as much as anybody else’s voice and power. So, use it!

On Wisconsin. Forward!

Sincerely,

Jay Heck, Executive Director

--------------------------

Jay Heck

608/512-9363 (cell)

Common Cause in Wisconsin
152 Johnson St, Suite 212
Madison, WI 53703

Read More...

Intro only...