Institutions in Madison are working to prevent barriers and encourage voting within the community ahead of the Wisconsin midterm election.
University of Wisconsin freshman Amanjot Kaur is passionate about civic engagement. According to Kaur, there are many reasons students should participate in the midterm election.
Young people have significantly different needs than the rest of the population and voting acts as one of the most accessible ways for students to have a say on how their government runs, Kaur said.
“If we want those needs to be addressed, voting is a good way to have power in numbers and have elected officials pay attention to us as a constituency, as a group,” Kaur said.
Not everyone at the university has equal access to voting, though.
Students balancing busy schedules may have trouble finding time to research candidates and vote. Individuals attending UW from out-of-state may face additional barriers, such as acquiring the required identification needed to vote, Kaur said.
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As an intern for BadgersVote, Kaur works with other students, faculty and staff to help alleviate some of these barriers to voting at the university.
In preparation for the midterm election, BadgersVote volunteers and interns complete extensive voter registration, inform students about the voting process and participate in programs – such as debate viewings – to help students learn about the issues at stake, director of the Elections Research Center Barry Burden said in an email statement to the Badger Herald.
The university itself helps decrease voting barriers in a few ways, Kaur said. One of the biggest things is providing free voter identification.
On election day, the WisCard office will operate with extended hours to provide voter-compliant IDs while polls remain open, Burden said. Volunteers with BadgersVote will also help print temporary IDs at polling locations on campus.
UW also offers multiple polling locations on campus for students and employees to conveniently access, Burden said.
Even though classes are still scheduled for election day, Burden said faculty are asked to be flexible.
“Campus policy allows students to miss class without penalty if they are serving as election workers,” Burden said. “Instructors are asked not to have major assignments on election day and to provide flexibility to students who are late to class or absent because of the time required to vote.”
There are some areas where the university could improve voter engagement and education, according to Kaur. Currently, most of the voter outreach done on campus is not on UW social media but rather through groups on campus doing voter initiatives, Kaur said.
It can be difficult to get a message out in the most effective way when different groups on campus are not coordinated with each other, Kaur said. BadgersVote hopes to improve communication between the different voting initiatives on campus.
“I wish I could see more voter registration information — deadlines, posts, things like that on the UW-Madison Instagram, which has 100,000 plus followers. We’d be able to [reach] more students than we would with our Instagram, ” Kaur said. “But aside from that, I think that the university is really good at responding to what students need and providing resources, and that’s probably the most important thing – letting students know that those resources exist.”
Off campus, Madison businesses are finding unique ways to support employees and encourage voting on election day. Ian’s Pizza started a “Mac the Vote” initiative.
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This isn’t the first time Ian’s Pizza supported an election. For the last six years, the restaurant served as a site for voter registration, Ian’s Pizza marketing director Zachary Chapman said.
When the COVID-19 pandemic forced polling places to close during the 2020 Primary Election, Ian’s Pizza opened their doors.
The “Mac the Vote” initiative started in 2018, Chapman said. At that time, customers could show any sticker and receive a free slice of mac ‘n cheese pizza.
“I think a lot of people assumed they didn’t need to vote,” Chapman said. “And when all the feedback came back, it showed there was lower voter turnout [and] young people were a big part of that group. A big part of our customer base is students, so it was like, ‘What can we do to encourage people to vote?’”
Since the pandemic prevented “Mac the Vote” from safely occurring in 2020, Ian’s Pizza has big plans for this year’s election. The restaurant will remain closed until 5 p.m. to allow employees ample time to get to the polls, Chapman said.
Anyone who comes in during open hours – between 5 and 10 p.m. – will receive a free slice of mac ‘n cheese pizza. The restaurant is also encouraging employees to volunteer at the polls and will bring pizza to nearby polling stations as a thank you to workers, Chapman said.
Ian’s Pizza will pay any employees who volunteer at the polls the wage they would’ve made during their shift, Chapman said. Those who missed out on a shift have the opportunity to help make pizzas for poll workers.
“For as long as we’ve been around, we’ve been pro-democracy, pro-pizza, so it just seems like a hand in hand partnership here,” Chapman said. “We’re not looking to take one side over another. We’re really just encouraging people to get out and make their voice heard via ballot.”
