Our votes must not be open to federal government inspection | Opinion
While navigating a March blizzard, preparing taxes, and watching our country bomb Iran, you may have missed some important news: the federal government is trying to take away your right to vote freely.
This December, the US Department of Justice demanded Wisconsin's list of voters' names, date of birth, address, driver's license number and the last four digits of social security numbers. On March 12, the FBI obtained an Arizona state senate audit of the 2020 election, this after seizing actual private ballots in Georgia. Not to mention that Republicans in Congress are attempting to make it harder for you to vote with the SAVE Act.
The thing that Arizona, Georgia and Wisconsin all have in common is that they are swing states that flipped and voted for Joe Biden in 2020. The difference between our states is that Wisconsin is resisting . Consistent with state law, our Election Commission has refused to hand over our voter roll. Also, we have a governor who is rightfully "P.O'd"
Federal government is not our ruler
For many of us, we are under the impression that we don't have to assert our right to vote freely, that is, without the government knowing how we voted. They are not our rulers. Who we vote for should not be for their inspection.
A radical idea was born 250 years ago. In 1776, an idea emerged that the power of the government came from the consent of the governed. Unlike a monarchy, sovereignty would reside within the people. "Governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed," read the Declaration of Independence from a king.
When Thomas Jefferson wrote these words, his ideal was far from realized. Jefferson himself was an enslaver of human beings and it would take amendments to this Constitution to extend the peoples' sovereignty to African American men in 1870 and women in 1920 .
No matter how far the ideal was from being true in 1776, it is now our turn to fulfill its realization. The torch of liberty has been passed, and it is up to everyday people like you and me to tend its fire.
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Recently, we received word that the construction of a second ICE building has been completed in Milwaukee. The Department of Homeland Security feels no need to let us, the taxpayers, know when the facility will open, and how long people will be held in custody at the new site.
"ICE will not confirm office locations as our officers are facing a coordinated campaign of violence against them," The DHS said in a statement to the MiIwaukee Journal Sentinel .
We won't consent to unregulated ICE
Let's set the record straight. Like the patriots of 1776, those in the MKE ICE Out coalition are hard working Americans who are shocked by the way their tax money is being used. We can not be silent as masked federal agents kill American citizens and "disappear" non-violent immigrants with no criminal record.
Take the case of Sheboygan Falls's Elvira Benitez-Suarez , mother of two. Unlike the DHS description of detained immigrants, Benitez-Suarez has no criminal record. A federal judge has ruled that she should be at home with her children ages 11 and 12. Milwaukee's objection to ICE has forced us to utilize our freedoms of speech and peaceful assembly. Unregulated ICE? We do not consent.
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On March 28, at aptly named Washington Park , Milwaukeeans will raise their collective voice in defense of government by the people. Its message is as relevant and succinct as it was in 1776. No Kings ! Elected officials will be there. I will not be surprised to see State Sen. Chris Larson or the authors of ICE Out MKE legislation : Alder Dimitrijevic, Alder Pérez, Alder Zamarippa and Alder Brower. As our elected officials, their role will be as witnesses as we, the people of Milwaukee, remedy the mistaken belief that we are frightened, that our voice will be silenced or that we will acquiesce.
In April, we will proudly vote for the Wisconsin Supreme court , many of us with mail-in ballots. In November, we will vote to upend a congress that believes in the supremacy of its president, not its people. Wars, laws and taxation are the responsibilities of congress, not the executive branch. We will not let them abdicate their responsibility. We, in turn, must not abdicate ours. It is up to us, the people, to ensure our freedom.
Michael Pointer Mace is a proud Milwaukeean, a member of the First Unitarian Society of Milwaukee and Voces de la Frontera's New American Program.
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Milwaukee won't let the government take our right to vote | Opinion
