OP-ED: Remembrance of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Comes As We Face Renewed Challenges to the Freedom to Vote for All

No matter our age, background, or zip code, we have and continue to benefit from the work of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and his dedication to civil rights, voting rights, and so much more. More than half of a century later, his legacy lives on.

This year, A Better Wisconsin Together continues to call for our elected leaders to not just honor Dr. King’s memory and legacy with words, but also with action.

Just last month, fake electors from Wisconsin admitted to their role in trying to overturn the 2020 election, prompting urgent calls for Wisconsin Election Commissioner Bob Spindell to resign or be removed from his position.

Spindell not only posed as a fake elector in an attempt to throw out millions of votes, but he is on the record bragging about a reduction in the number of Black voters in Wisconsin’s 2022 midterm election. He framed it as a victory that less people of color had cast ballots in the 2022 election when compared to the 2018 election.

A world where the freedom to vote is equally extended to us all is a world where anti-voter actions and election sabotage should disqualify any person from serving in a position of public trust, yet Wisconsin Republicans continue to actively obstruct our freedom to vote.

Late last year, Wisconsin’s Republican delegation in Congress voted to elect Mike Johnson as Speaker of the House, knowing full well that Johnson led a legal effort in 2020 to disenfranchise voters in key states, including in Wisconsin.

Additionally, GOP state legislators slashed from the newest state budget provisions that would have made it easier for voters of color to register to vote and cast their ballots.

Dr. King dedicated much of his work to expanding the freedom to vote, and people came together in communities across our nation and across race and class to make that idea a reality. Decades later, we must continue doing that.

You can call your state legislators at 1-800-362-9472 or federal representatives at 202-224-3121 and demand they support legislation that expands, not hinders, our freedom to vote and that those who stand in the way of our rights at the ballot box are held accountable.