The polls will be open from 7AM until 8PM tomorrow. On your ballot may be races for Madison alder or Madison Mayor. Across the state, voters will also decide the top two candidates for Wisconsin Supreme Court.
While all candidates this spring are technically nonpartisan, both Democrats and Republicans have spent big money to support the four candidates running for a seat on the state’s top court.
According to the Associated Press, nearly $7 million dollars had been spent on the race as of last Tuesday.
Deb Cronmiller is the Executive Director of the League of Women’s Voters Wisconsin. This morning, she told WORT’s Brian Standing that this level of ideology is not typical for state Supreme Court candidates.
“As little as 15 years ago, you would not even know the ideology of a Supreme Court justice,” Cronmiller says. “Now, this race is being depicted completely on these candidate’s ideologies.”
Two Supreme Court candidates – Dane County Judge Everett Mitchell and Milwaukee Judge Janet Protasiewicz – are backed by liberal groups. The other two candidates – Waukesha Judge Jennifer Dorow and former Justice Dan Kelly – have been supported by conservative groups.
The state Supreme Court election has drawn national headlines, and Democrats have been repeatedly pointing out the high stakes. Who is elected could be the deciding vote as the court is likely gearing up to decide a slew of issues, including a challenge to the state’s 1849 abortion ban.
Yesterday, the Madison Reproductive Rights Coalition for Healthcare, or MARRCH, held a rally in the state capital, urging people to head to the polls.
Caitlin Benedetto, a student at UW Madison and member of MARRCH, spoke at yesterday’s rally about the importance of tomorrow’s election.
“We know that the majority of people in Wisconsin support legal abortion,” Benedetto says. “To restore our rights to bodily autonomy and reproductive freedom, it is essential that you vote in the primary this Tuesday and in the general election on April 4. There is an open seat on the state Supreme Court, and if we elect a pro-choice candidate to that seat, we can see the 1849 ban overturned.”
Another issue that could head to the Supreme Court is the state’s legislative maps. Democrats have promised to bring Wisconsin’s maps back to the state Supreme Court should a liberal leaning justice be elected.
Jay Heck is the executive director of the nonprofit advocacy group Common Cause Wisconsin. He says that, if either of the liberal candidates makes it onto the court in April, Common Cause will be carefully looking at their legal options to bring redistricting back to the Supreme Court.
“Usually, redistricting is done after the census year, which is the end of the decade, 2010 or 2020,” Heck says. “But, that’s only because it has to be done then. It can be done, and it can be revisited, at any time by a legal action. Certainly, you are going to see that happen if on April 4 there is a switch from 4-3 conservative to 4-3 progressive.”
As of 9AM on Friday, the city of Madison clerk’s office had sent out over 23,000 absentee ballots to Madison residents, of which around 14,300 had been returned. Additionally, around 4,500 residents had voted early at sites around the city.
All voters will need to show photo identification – whether it’s a Wisconsin driver’s license or a passport.
And, you’ll need to be registered. You can register to vote at the polls tomorrow, but if you need to do that, you’ll need to bring some form of proof of residence. That includes a utility bill issued within the last 90 days, a paycheck, or a government-issued document showing your address.
To find your polling location, go to the MyVote website. And to find our interviews with candidates appearing on tomorrow’s ballot, head to our candidate guide.
WORT Reporter Greg Geboski contributed audio for this story.
Photo courtesy: Element5 / UNSPLASH