Lt. Gov. On Wisconsin GOP Forcing Voters To Polls Amid Pandemic | All In | MSNBC

Mandela Barnes, the Lieutenant Governor of Wisconsin, on the state holding an election amid a global pandemic: “We got to this point because of a long trend of voter suppression that’s been going on across the state and across the country.” Aired on 04/07/2020.
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Lt. Gov. On Wisconsin GOP Forcing Voters To Polls Amid Pandemic | All In | MSNBC

92 comments

    1. Bodfishblues – There’s lines everywhere. People are lined up oustide of Costco right now. You guys are so lame its hard to take you seriously.

    2. @Patriot Patriot for the white people. Guess you’re voting grey. now you boys run along and play civil war. Play nice now.

    3. @Bodfishblues just like a Dem, involving race into everything! Sorry your black people are waking up to your FAKE NEWS!!

    4. Kevin McNeil – You don’t even know what you don’t know. This wasn’t just a “dem primary”.

    5. IMPORTANT LISTEN AND ACT….
      PEOPLE DO YOU LET THE REPUBLICANS STEEL YOUR RIGHTS IN THE COURTS ???
      They Will Place Another Trumpian Anti Working People Judge In Your Courhts..
      I Call You All To Stop This…!!!

      Make Sure That The Voting Booths Convenient Placed For Republicans Get Swamp With Waiting Lines..
      This Will Scare With Luck The Republican Voters Away…
      Use There Own Suppression Tactics Against Them..
      Spread The Massage On Social Media..

    1. James Kenyon we have absentee ballots, but they have to be requested online or by mail, it’s not automatically given. Under normal circumstances, people go out to the polls. When the virus started becoming more and more prevalent, people started requesting absentee ballots, but not everyone has received their ballots. I got mine, but my husband never got his.

    2. James Kenyon to understand why republicans wanted this vote to go forward despite health risks, first know that Wisconsin is one of the most heavily gerrymandered states. There are also other voter suppression tactics happening. This vote wasn’t just the presidential primary, there is also a vote for wi Supreme Court with a democratic challenger. They chose to put everyone at risk because they knew voter turnout would be much lower and they’d have a better chance at keeping a republican majority in the state’s Supreme Court.

    3. @Lindsey Stein as a Wisconsinite I can tell you that you are very ignorant if you believe that. Wisconsin has same day voter registration and absentee voting. What voter supression is there? If you’re referring to the lawsuit to purge voter registrees of voters who were assumed to have moved out of a district (which is the law), then you don’t really have an argument because you can reregister in about 5 minutes online and can check on the website if you don’t know you’re registered or not. The democrats want to make election fraud easier like other places in the country. The democrats even said on video that they bus people from polling site to polling site.

    4. Obviously registering to vote isn’t an issue in Wisconsin. I was able to do it online. The problem is that not everyone received their absentee ballot. I did, but my husband didn’t. We both requested one weeks ago and properly. A lot of people didn’t get their ballot. It’s voter suppression to make people choose their health or to vote. There was no benefit (except to the republican legislature) to holding the election yesterday. All it got Wisconsin was lower voter turn out. There were only five polling locations open for all of Milwaukee yesterday, how is that helpful to anyone trying to vote and maintain social distancing. There was no reason to not postpone unless someone wanted low voter turnout. It’s not as if they were cancelling the election altogether. It’s pretty naive to think republicans were doing that in good faith.

  1. Heavy gerrymandering, voter suppression, and out right voter fraud is the only way the traitor republicans have managed to cling to power. They haven’t had the numbers in DECADES…..

    1. @INCARNATE The GOP always enter an elected office through the back door, they are very fortunate to have such a naïve – gullible base that believes their BS and then plays stupid while they rig elections and make up allegations to drag their name and reputation through the mud. It’s their only way to get the votes and I hate it how the dem’s sit and watch it happen. Maybe a little threat or bad press but it’s soon forgotten. VOTE!!!

  2. That’s okay, I’m here in Milwaukee, my absentee ballot was mysteriously “lost” in the mail when the state says it was sent out 2 weeks ago so I masked and gloved up and went down to one of our 5 (there’s usually 128) polling sites in person and cast my ballot. Their pettiness knows no bounds lol.

    1. @Jay Thank you, thank you, thank you!
      Milwaukee decides the fate of the entire world… no pressure.
      It’s not an accident that the GOP is trying to get you killed. These traitors need to go!
      Send this link to everyone you know: vote.gov

    2. Respect to you. I can’t believe how corrupt your voting system is. Please stay safe. Hugs from the UK.

    3. I’m from the UK and I’m disgusted by what is happening the US seems to be sliding into dictatorship with the blatant voter suppression. Terrible you had to risk your life just to vote! Stay safe.

    4. I want to thank you personally it’s time to deal with these m************ We the People control this country if you’re willing to stand up and do that thank you

    1. No if they protect their faces and hands, yes the American people are desperately angry because they one to vote this deshonest President Trump out of the White House Wisconsin is made of brave Americans

  3. Voter suppression, endangerment of life, this is a crime committed on the american people in so many levels. Trump and his Republicans need to be charged with these crimes.

    1. @Bovine One don’t try to feed me that don’t slip Republican party knows it’s going the way of the Whigs they have no soul no backbone I’m definitely no balls you got to be a mirror if we were dealing with when they go low we don’t go high we kick then in their f****** face walking time to play Hardball

    2. edward mille – I can’t understand your rambling and incoherent comment. Try forming a proper sentence with punctuation.

    3. Chris C. – So you think executives should have the power to suspend elections without their legislature’s consent?

    4. Chris C. – I haven’t heard an argument from you. Give me a reason why a Chief Executive should be able to suspend elections without consent from his legislature.
      You can say that you’re unbais and that I’m distorting things all you want. That’s not an argument. And I’m not distorting anything btw. This is EXACTLY what happened.

    5. Chris C. – Okay. Now we’re getting somewhere. Yes, a Chief Executive should have the ability to enact emergency measures in order to save lives. I don’t disagree with that.
      Now, do you think that a Chief Executive, in addition to his emergency powers, should be able to go against the legislature? This is where the problem arises because how do you prevent that Executive from abusing those emergency powers and effectively ignore, or create his own law?
      You mentioned precedent. Had the courts decided that the Governor could ignore the Legislature and suspend elections, we’d have a new precedent that would establish the ability of a Chief Executive to abuse his emergency powers by decaring an emergency and remain in office indefinitely. As it stands now, the Governor can use his emergency powers to save lives but if the State Legislature votes to end the emergency by enacting law, they can override the Governor’s emergency powers with a two-thirds majority vote.
      So my next question to you would be: do you think that the Governor should be able to ignore a vote by the Legislature? If so, I would ask: how do you suggest we prevent a Governor (or any Chief Executive) from using his emergency powers in order avoid being voted out of office? Once an emergency is declared, what power does the public have for recourse if the people believe that the Governor no longer needs those emergency powers? In other words, how to you get a Governor out of office who has been given emergency powers and suspended elections if he doesn’t have to obey the laws passed by the Legislature?

    1. @Ted L Dear , Truly Demented . Presidnet Trump 2016-2024 is doing everything he can to keep the American dream alive .
      You still have time to educate yourself and VOTE TRUMP 2020 !!!

  4. If it was OK for Trump to vote by mail in 2018 in Florida voting by mail should be OK for the rest of us.

    1. Bono Budju
      Under Florida law, all registered voters are permitted to vote by mail. Request a Vote-by-Mail Ballot Voting a Mail Ballot Military and Overseas Citizens …
      Rub two brain cells together every once in a while.

    2. I used to live in Florida and I voted by mail. I ordered my ballot in March and got it in the mail in September. I had plenty of time to research every issue on the ballot and decide how I would vote. I mailed my ballot before the 2008 Republican convention.

  5. If I were on a ventilator in Wi I would have had them wheel me to the polls to show these GOP pukes the door!

    1. Lol! No you wouldnt and won’t, why? Id put a 4 foot long stick through your spokes just as you went to pull the lever. Lol!

    2. saying you’d tip over a person in a wheel chair on life support? That’s new low Darren ….I’m sure your grandparents would be proud that you would treat a frail person like that……..

  6. I will vote trump out on a day with huge fire storms throw in meteors and tidal waves they wont stop me.. the bluepill

    1. You said it. Blue pill = false reality. You’ve been given lies and you want to believe them, otherwise; you would not.

    2. The blue pill – what mind altering drug is that ? It’s spreading much delusional thinking….beware.

    3. That seems a tad excessive. You certainly won’t participate in your own betterment. Don’t fight the firefighter when they drag you out of a burning building.

  7. The Ratpublikkkans don’t care about people, they only care about been reelected so they can keep their position in the government and make money from the lobbying “program”.
    NRA, pharma, oil, etc.

    1. Ok paz the spaz, get it right here ….we maybe jerks and we like beer and bear and fish and gators and and shoot us so.e whitetail buck, but we didnt start no KKK now that was done after the civil war to keep the newly uppity freed slaves from getting uppity. Go look it up, it’ll tell you also the first slave owner in the america was a black guy named Anthony Johnson the commonwealth of Virginia gave him that distinction. So i think you have you wires crossed on who you think the KKK are. Republicans with a majority in the senate passed the emancipation proclamation act .dems faught tooth and nail for it. Same with the civil rights act of 65 yep Republican majority senate. You have much too learn.

    2. Ruddy false. Your comment is on the lines of Saul Alinsky’s teachings for socialist radicals. Accuse the opposition of the very unethical/illegal actions you are doing.

    3. @john emeigh Except, if you were honest, you’d know that is not what is happening. Be honest. Voter suppression by the Republicans is something some of them openly admit. Duh!

    4. @Susan Galea If you are referring to the fact that most elected officials insist on a citizen proving that they are citizens, then yes, many admit to that. Dems want illegals to be able to vote, hence; that is why illegals can get drivers’ licenses in some states. Presuming that illegals would vote blue, Dems want them to be able to vote. Same with the census. How many non-citizens do we have living her?
      e? We ought to know. I feel you are covering up/rationalizing an illegal act by Dems. There are rules. You don’t get 4 strikes; just 3. Here, again, is an area where Dems are trying void the Constitution.

    5. @Susan Galea democrats commit voter fraud in most elections. The WI conservatives wanted to remove voter registrations for voters who were assumed to have moved (which is the law) and the democrats refused. The only reason the democrats want to not purge voter registrations is to make fraud easier. If your a person who had registration removed you can reregister the same day you vote or even do it online, it takes 5 minutes.

  8. I was just thinking, what if everyone just ends up voting Democratic for this position😂😂will serve the Republicans right for making people feel obligated to risk their lives to vote for a seat on the Supreme Court.

    1. That’d be ironic and I bet if that happens those same republicans would want a redo even though they overturned the delay that would have prevented this chaos. Unfortunately I doubt it will happen because democrats ,based on polling, are the ones more likely to take the pandemic serious and stay home while republicans still think it’s just the flu so they rush out…

    2. Do you not know that if you take Milwaukee and madison away Wisconsin’s cheese heads aint nothing but red! So now its your move!

    3. Also, darlink, democrats are abandoning the democrat party, look at the state of disarray that was and is the democrat presidential nominations, your no closer than picking a nominee then you are of personally having someone drop a duffel bag with the 5 million in unmarked and small denominations.

    4. @Darren Kastl Anyone would be better than Trump. True Republicans are leaving Trump’s insane cult – haven’t you heard of the Lincoln Project?

  9. Here I thought it was just a primary. It is also a general. That makes so much more sense why voter suppression mattered on this one. If it was just a primary, the GOP would have no benefit to suppress the vote. By doing this, they suppress their votes in Nov. by killing their voters now.

    1. @Chris C. Yep, what’s happening now isn’t really that different from the beginnings that tragic era of history. Blaming immigrants and minorities for economic problems, entitlement, manipulation of fear and ignorance, abandoning law, ethics, and human decency in order to get a piece of power. 

      It’s the erosion of nearly everything our country was founded on, and tens of millions of people still don’t show up to vote. Much of this is because these people are foolish enough to think that it won’t affect them.

      Whether they realized it or not before, it’s affecting all of us right now. Not only are tens of thousands going to die because of total incompetence and irresponsibility of our leadership, but they’re using this to help rich people more than the majority of us. $2400 for my family, if we ever get it all, is nothing compared to what we’ve already lost and have yet to lose, since this is not over. And heaven forbid anyone in my family gets sick and has to figure out how to pay tens of thousands in medical bills when none of us can work right now.

    2. @Ted L
      Unfortunately Ted L you are correct. There is no knowing the depths of desperateness that the republican party will stoop to….

    3. Chris C. . What are you talking about “viciousness, “ruthlessness” and “we”? Next you’ll be talking about how trump is responsible for the division. Speak to the man above your bathroom sink .

    4. Chris C. Yes are 100% correct!! I’m sick of Dems being nice and polite. It hasn’t gotten us anywhere. They act so weak and scary.

    1. @Big Picture Thinking You’re being deliberately obtuse. The point is that the Republicans are insisting they take an unnecessary risk to their lives instead of allowing postal ballots. A right that is exercised in rational states but not in Republican led ones where they are desperate to suppress the vote. Get real. Get honest. Forlorn hope, I know…

    2. Big Picture Thinking May you and your family experience the full effects of inept Republican leadership during this pandemic!

    3. @Susan Galea Fiction can be fun, but fair-minded adults prefer fact-based reality: Wisconsin’s DEMOCRAT Governor responded to a DEMOCRAT-filed lawsuit, which was ruled on by a DEMOCRAT-appointed judge.

      Not a single Republican was involved in that Wisconsin decision to hold their primary yesterday.

    4. @Big Picture Thinking you’re a f****** moron I think people reaching the point in this country are there cannot going to deal with your a****** s*** it’s time for the Republican party to go the way of the Whigs

  10. I live in Wisconsin and we are under a stay in place order. If all the restaurants and non-essential businesses have to close – so should the polls. Shameful.

    1. Cate McCool I live in Madison. This was unbelievable. People are dying everyday from this and they only cared about their votes. I hope they’re happy and can sleep at night with blood on their hands.

  11. It’s been 100 years since women got the vote, and our suffrage work is not done. As long as someone’s voting rights are compromised we have work to do.

    1. @Cefn GwynNo, I’m not interested in public office. I do help with every election. There’s a lot to an election and volunteers are really needed.

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