A group of students marched to the Capitol Tuesday in protest of legislation that aims to establish online voter registration in Wisconsin and eliminate special registration deputies.
The group included leaders of the Associated Students of Madison and the BlackOut movement. Protesters said they believe Assembly Bill 389’s elimination of special registration deputies, who register other students to vote, will be used to disenfranchise student voters.
“Most students, I’d imagine, end up registering to vote because a fellow student registers them,” said Ald. Zach Wood, District 8, and a recent UW-Madison graduate. “And if you take that right away, the degree of difficulty to get registered goes up immensely.”
The activists marched through the Capitol rotunda chanting phrases such as “let us vote” and “I refuse to be oppressed” in unison. They then sat in on the proceedings in the Assembly chamber.
The bill’s proponents say the legislation is intended to help more Wisconsin citizens gain access to voting. However, activists say the bill will do more harm than good.
“It will systematically disenfranchise students across the state of Wisconsin,” said Sally Rohrer, chair of ASM’s University Affairs Committee. “By fighting this bill, we are really just trying to promote the student voice in elections and promote democracy.”
