Ben WiklerCompte certifié

But even as these excruciating events unfolded, other, powerful changes were afoot. For one thing, pro-Karofsky organizers—the extraordinary @wisdems field operation, county parties, & neighborhood teams, and an outstanding array of independent grassroots groups—were at work.

Democratic Party of Wisconsin organizers and volunteers reached out to voters literally millions of times—through texts, phone calls, and social media. They'd patiently teach folks to vote by mail. And steadily, day by day, absentee ballot requests shot up.https://twitter.com/WisVoter/status/1245732666214932487 …

Meanwhile, presidential campaigns got involved. @BernieSanders endorsed Jill Karofsky—and engaged his volunteers in calling, texting, and doing social media outreach on her behalf, all focused on absentee voting.https://twitter.com/DavidNir/status/1245094566363004930 …

That organizing by Team Sanders made a critical difference. And he wasn't alone. @JoeBiden endorsed Karofsky and urged Wisconsin voters to support her. @ewarren tweeted and emailed her Wisconsin list. @PeteButtigieg and @JulianCastro endorsed as well.https://twitter.com/ewarren/status/1245766700399812611 …

And, perhaps most critically, a backlash was brewing. Voters felt a sense of profound fury that Republicans were willing to put their lives at risk—and the lives of their families—as a political gambit to win an election.

This fury was felt perhaps most keenly by African-American voters in Wisconsin, the majority of whom live in Milwaukee. As droves of poll workers canceled, 97% of Milwaukee's polling locations closed. The GOP knew this was happening as it pushed to keep in-person voting in place.

The profound, palpable sense of injustice—that a group of politicians was willing to threaten people's lives in order to prevent them from voting—was in the air on April 7, alongside coronavirus droplets, as polling places opened across the state.