Wisconsin voting groups criticize GOP minority turnout email

By HARM VENHUIZEN
Associated Press/Report for America

MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Comments by a Republican state election commissioner applauding GOP strategies for helping depress Black and Hispanic turnout in Wisconsin’s largest city came as little surprise to groups seeking to organize minority voters there. They’ve been alleging that laws passed by a Republican-dominated legislature and previous Republican governors were thinly veiled attempts to silence voters in Democrat-heavy Milwaukee, where Black and Hispanic residents account for a majority of the population. They say the comments that came to light earlier this week by Wisconsin Elections Commission member Robert Spindell validated those concerns. The head of one Milwaukee-based immigrants rights group called the comments racist.