With four weeks to go until the November 8 General Election, the Milwaukee Common Council has taken a small step in protecting election and poll workers throughout the city. Because you KNOW this election is gonna be a shit show.

An ordinance approved Tuesday morning prohibits “violent, abusive, indecent, profane, boisterous, unreasonably loud or otherwise disorderly conduct which is likely to cause or provoke a civil disturbance” at Milwaukee polling places. Anyone caught doing this “shall, upon conviction, be subject to a forfeiture of $1,000, together with the costs of prosecution, and in default of payment of the forfeiture and costs, shall be imprisoned as provided by law.”

The ordinance covers both in-person harassment and harassment via phone or computer, a.k.a. “sending a telecommunication message that contains any violent, abusive, indecent or profane language, or image, or any other message intended to harass, annoy or offend, which is likely to cause or provoke a civil disturbance.”

According to The New York Times, violent threats aimed at election workers are “common,” though they’re not often prosecuted. In August, Wisconsin Attorney General Josh Kaul has said that he will indeed prosecute anyone threatening poll workers.

Following the 2020 election, Milwaukee Election Commission Executive Director Claire Woodall-Vogg received numerous death threats. “We’re going to try you and we’re going to **** convict your piece of **** **** and we’re going to hang you,” went a typical voicemail message.

“Over the past year and a half or so, I have been subjected to a great deal of threats,” Woodall-Vogg testified to the Judiciary & Legislation Committee on October 3. “Most of them via email, many of them online, and then a few phone calls, voicemails, and letters to my home. It has created generated a lot of fear among our election workers. The number-one question I get when I’m recruiting election workers or when I’m speaking to chief inspectors, is how do I know I’m going to be safe on Election Day? […] One of the ways to make election workers, especially our chief inspectors, feel empowered to keep control of their polling places is having ordinances like this one.”

Milwaukee’s ordinance, originally introduced by Alderwoman JoCasta Zamarripa and Alderwoman Marina Dimitrijevic, follows similar legislation passed in Madison, Sheboygan, and Racine.

“We’re not just going to sit here and let this happen,” Dimitrijevic said at a press conference in September. “We’re not going to be pushed around and bullied. We refuse to be intimidated.”

Here’s the full text of the ordinance. The 2022 General Election is November 8. VOTE.

A substitute ordinance relating to the protection of poll workers.

Analysis

This ordinance prohibits the following at polling places:

1. Violent, abusive, indecent, profane, boisterous, unreasonably loud or otherwise disorderly conduct which is likely to cause or provoke a civil disturbance.

2. Sending a telecommunication message that contains any violent, abusive, indecent or profane language, or image, or any other message intended to harass, annoy or offend, which is likely to cause or provoke a civil disturbance.

Body

The Mayor and Common Council of the City of Milwaukee do ordain as follows:

Part 1. Section 105-139 of the code is created to read:

105-139. Protection of Election Officials.

1. FINDINGS. The common council finds election officials are bullied and threatened, and polling places are disrupted by behaviors that undermine free and fair elections.

2. DEFINITIONS. For purposes of this section:

a. “Election official” means an individual who is charged with any duties related to the conduct of an election.

b. “Polling place” means any facility where votes are cast in a primary or general election under the provisions of this chapter, including any hall, passageway, sidewalk or approach providing immediate access to the facility where votes are cast.

c. “Polling times” means the hours of operation of a polling place, including any time an election official is preparing to open a polling place to voters, or processing votes and supporting documents after the polling place is closed to voters.

d. “Telecommunication device” means any instrument, equipment, machine or other device that facilitates telecommunication, including but not limited to, a computer, computer network, computer chip, computer circuit, scanner, telephone, cellular telephone, pager, personal communications device, radio, transponder, receiver, modem or device that enables the use of a modem.

e. “Telecommunication message” means any transfer of signs, signals, writing, images, sounds, data or intelligence of any nature transmitted with a telecommunications device.

3. PROHIBITIONS. No person, while at a polling place during polling times, shall:

a. Engage in violent, abusive, indecent, profane, boisterous, unreasonably loud or otherwise disorderly conduct which is likely to cause or provoke a civil disturbance.

b. Send a telecommunication message to a telecommunication device that contains any violent, abusive, indecent or profane language, or an image, or any other message intended to harass, annoy or offend, which is likely to cause or provoke a civil disturbance.

4. EXCEPTION. No provision of this section shall be construed to restrict the lawful possession of a firearm.

5. PENALTY. Any person violating this section shall, upon conviction, be subject to a forfeiture of $1,000, together with the costs of prosecution, and in default of payment of the forfeiture and costs, shall be imprisoned as provided by law.

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About The Author

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Co-Founder and Editor

Matt Wild weighs between 140 and 145 pounds. He lives on Milwaukee's east side.