N
obody should have to choose
between their vote and
their health, but Wisconsin
voters faced this decision due to
reckless and politically-motivated
actions taken by the Republican
Party and a complicit United States
Supreme Court.
As
COVID-19
forces
stay-at-
home orders and social distancing,
numerous states have postponed
their primary elections in the name
of public health. This is the right
decision. Having people leave their
homes in the middle of a pandemic
and gather en masse at polling places,
interacting with others and touching
shared surfaces, is clearly a recipe
for disaster.
In order to protect his constituents,
Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers tried to
postpone the state’s primary election
until June. However, the GOP had
other plans.
The GOP sued to keep the April
7 election date, taking the case all
the way to the U.S. Supreme Court.
In a five to four ideological split,
the conservative justices voted to
allow the election to be held on the
original date. Justice Ruth Bader
Ginsberg, joined by the other three
liberal justices, dissented, saying
that continuing to hold the election
“will result in massive
disenfranchisement.”
This
disenfranchisement
of voters was clear
during Election Day.
Fears over COVID-
19 led to a shortage
of poll workers and
widespread
poll
closures. Milwaukee,
a diverse city with
about
600,000
residents, had their
usual
180
polling
places reduced to just five. This
led to hours-long lines with people
having to wait outside during bouts
of rain and hail. Overall turnout was
down significantly from 49 percent
in the 2016 primary to 31 percent.
This lower turnout can in part be
attributed to only one party having
a
competitive
primary,
but
the
influence of COVID-19 can also not
be overlooked.
Though Wisconsin has no-excuse
absentee voting, which allows people
to vote via mail instead of in-person
and is one of the most promising
ways to vote during a pandemic,
Wisconsin’s system has many issues.
Some voters did not receive their
absentee ballots despite requesting
them. Another major issue was
that the appeals court upheld a
requirement that every person who
submits an absentee ballot must have
a witness sign their ballot before it
can be returned. For people who are
self-isolating or live alone, this can
be a major barrier to voting.
The inability for some people
to vote was not a coincidence,
it was a coordinated strategy to
disenfranchise
certain
voters.
COVID-19 is mostly concentrated in
the urban areas in Wisconsin, such
as Milwaukee. Therefore, many of
the less diverse suburban and rural
areas did not experience the same
poll closures and fears compared to
the larger, more diverse cities. It is
evident that holding the in-person
election was a thinly veiled action
on the part of the state GOP to
disenfranchise diverse voters who
overwhelmingly support Democrats.
The
most
important
race
on
the ballot was not the Democratic
primary, instead, it was a Wisconsin
state Supreme Court race. There is
currently a lawsuit pending before
the court about a move by the state
legislature
to
purge
more
than
200,000 voters from the voter rolls.
The decision will have repercussions
for the 2020 election, given that
President
Donald
Trump
won
Wisconsin by exactly one percent in
2016. The purging of the voter rolls
is a move by the GOP to help Trump
and once again disenfranchise young
people and minorities. Wisconsin
voters
clearly
understood
the
importance of this race, as they
elected the Democratic
judicial candidate in a
shocking upset.
As
infuriating
and
saddening as it was to
witness this blatant act
of
voter
suppression,
it was still inspiring to
see
voters
determined
to exercise their basic
rights. These were people
who
were
willing
to
struggle for their vote.
They were willing to
stand for hours in the
rain and the hail. They were willing
to put their own safety at risk all to
exercise their right to vote.
However, there is something that
we all can learn from this. So often
when I talk to people on campus about
voting, they say it is too hard or too
complicated. We don’t know “hard.”
“Hard” is knowing that you can either
put your life at risk and go to the polls
or stay home but allow the fraudulent
election of a judge who may take away
your right to vote. Going to the polls
took courage. So many people in this
country and around the world cannot
vote, but they would — and often do —
risk it all for that right.
So the next time there is an election
and you aren’t sure if you want to
take the time to vote, think about
the people who went to the polls in
Wisconsin. Let their courage inspire
you to participate in our democracy in
a way that many people cannot.
4A — Wednesday, April 15, 2020
Opinion
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
Alanna Berger
Zack Blumberg
Brittany Bowman
Emily Considine
Jess D’Agostino
Jenny Gurung
Cheryn Hong
Krystal Hur
Ethan Kessler
Zoe Phillips
Mary Rolfes
Michael Russo
Timothy Spurlin
Miles Stephenson
Joel Weiner
Erin White
ERIN WHITE
Managing Editor
Stanford Lipsey Student Publications Building
420 Maynard St.
Ann Arbor, MI 48109
tothedaily@michigandaily.com
ELIZABETH LAWRENCE
Editor in Chief
EMILY CONSIDINE AND
MILES STEPHENSON
Editorial Page Editors
Unsigned editorials reflect the official position of The Daily’s Editorial Board.
All other signed articles and illustrations represent solely the views of their authors.
EDITORIAL BOARD MEMBERS
ISABELLE SCHINDLER | COLUMN
The sacred vote
Isabelle Schindler can be reached at
ischind@umich.edu.
T
he coronavirus pandemic
began as a murmur of
distant
contagion.
Like many other newsworthy
tragedies, it seems unreal and
somehow unthreatening until
it happens to you. The world
has been shocked by a wave
of uncertainty. People were
ripped from their comfortable
nooks of life and normalcy
with no warning, no time to
process. As a student on the
big, bustling University of
Michigan campus, my daily
routine has shifted largely.
However,
I’ve
chosen
to
develop a positive perspective
on my new reality — a decision
I know is a privilege not
everyone has the opportunity
to make in this unprecedented
time. My routine can continue,
and
there
are
even
new
possibilities that were not
available to me in Ann Arbor
(beyond that of quality New
Jersey bagels and access to
Wawa coffee). I’ve found peace
in a new perspective and the
prospect of technology.
With stay-at-home orders
restricting many from leaving
their
homes,
it
becomes
increasingly challenging to
make days feel anything but
mundane. It was not until a
week ago that I realized the
importance of something I had
completely
underestimated
the
role
of
throughout
quarantine:
technology.
I
would like to recognize that
this is not a luxury enjoyed
by all. This, however, made
my realization even stronger:
We need technology not only
for ourselves but especially
for individuals without the
opportunities and resources
we so often take for granted.
Zoom, BlueJeans, Google
Hangouts and more video
platforms have become the
new classrooms for countries
across the globe. Without
technology, this would not
be possible. While there is
undeniably a difference in
learning through my computer
screen in my pajamas, I still
have the opportunity to learn
from professors I’ve grown
comfortable listening to over
a semester’s worth of work. I
am grateful for the chance to
continue my education even
if the circumstances are a bit
unorthodox. I unexpectedly
find myself longing for lecture
halls yet remain grateful for
the familiar vibrato of my
professors’ voices through a
time where nearly everything
else is uncharted territory. Not
only school but work, too, has
been transitioned to remote
operations — an unthinkable
feat without solid WiFi and
access to internet software.
Despite being isolated to
a house with only my mom,
my dad and my dog, I have
the ability to regularly talk
to my sister in Nashville,
Tennessee, and my brother
in a house around the corner.
Technology
has
presented
us with the possibility to
continue
conversing
with
friends, family and colleagues.
My four-year-old niece has
learned to ask us to “Zoom
her” and my family regularly
conducts games over different
video chat rooms. Moving out
of a constantly occupied dorm
building to a home occupied
by three people has felt much
livelier than anticipated. With
everyone
experiencing
this
pandemic
simultaneously,
it seems communication is
actually more common now
than before our lives were
essentially
paused
until
further
notice.
The
sheer
possibility of communicating
with the outside world —
family, friends and beyond
— helps to keep potential
loneliness and the inevitable
stir-craziness at bay.
The routine I had grown
so
comfortable
replicating
day after day may have been
taken away from me. My trips
to the University of Michigan
Museum of Art cafe may now
be trips down the stairs to my
Keurig, but I am grateful to be
able to adapt my perspective to
the new circumstances around
me. It is this adaptation that
I encourage you to focus on.
The space around us can
be refocused to provide the
different sectors of our lives
a temporary substitute for
the musty tables in Hatcher
Graduate Library and a Friday
night trip to Frita Batidos.
While I yearn for my daily
walks
to
CityRow,
I
am
thankful for the unbelievable
camaraderie
demonstrated
by
fitness
apps
and
instructors everywhere. Free
memberships and Instagram/
Facebook Live have provided
people the opportunity to
continue to exercise, dance,
sing and even act from the
comfort (and safety) of their
homes.
In
lieu
of
movie
theater
releases,
movies
have been streamed online
and
uploaded
to
different
streaming
networks.
The
world has adapted and molded
to fit this new technological
way of life.
While all of these uses
of
technology
and
social
media platforms are arguably
incredible adaptations to a
social-distancing
lifestyle,
it is the access to news and
applications
that
augment
safety measures that stand
out
amid
the
coronavirus
pandemic. Being informed on
the latest news is imperative
to navigate this crisis in the
safest
and
most
effective
way to “flatten the curve.”
Additionally,
apps
like
Instacart
allow
people
to
avoid grocery stores and thus
avoid
potentially
infecting
others or themselves.
Though I encourage people
to continue to go outside safely
and avoid an overwhelming
amount of screen time, it
has been reassuring to find
something positive amid a
very negative time in history.
Without technology, life truly
would be paused for everyone,
but instead, we have found a
way to adapt to this new, much
smaller world available to
each of us, albeit much more
virtually than ever before. In
the absence of The Michigan
Daily paper to hold, we have
continued to write and publish
to our virtual platform. With
my regular morning coffee,
my phone acts as a substitute
for the paper I know I will
someday hold again. For now,
I’m happy to report that my
phone will suffice.
The transition to life online
JESS D’AGOSTINO | COLUMN
Jess D’Agostino can be reached at
jessdag@umich.edu.
Fears over
COVID-
19 led to a
shortage of poll
workers and
widespread
poll closures.
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