Went to Obama voter protection training today

I learned all kinds of interesting stuff this morning. I also did not expect so many people to be there! I had to park about 2 blocks away. I would guess that about 100 people showed up.

1. I found out that because of the Help American Vote Act (HAVA), every voter now has to have a registration number. If you have a valid Wisconsin driver's license, you must provide the number in order to register. If you do not have a valid Wisconsin license, you must provide the last four digits of your social security number. If you have a valid license, but don't have the number, you have to cast a provisional ballot, which will only be counted if you provide your DL number by 4 p.m. the next day. This is new, so I'm a little nervous that there will be some people who show up to the polls without their DL numbers.

2. Felons in Wisconsin have all their civil rights, including the right to vote, restored once they are no longer on any kind of supervision (probation, parole). Each polling place has a list of felons in the ward, along with their aliases. We were given a couple of phone numbers that people can call to check if they are still under supervision (you'd think they'd know, but not always). We were told that if a voter can't determine whether he's still under supervision and asks us for guidance, we should encourage them not to vote because they don't need another felony conviction. I thought this was particularly interesting, given the claims that Dems are trying to get mass amounts of felons to illegally vote. Also, every case of an ineligible felon voting in 2004 was prosecuted, but very few convictions were obtained because the state couldn't prove intent.

3. A former Republican state legislator was documented in 2004 hanging around a polling place, having a loud discussion with someone else about how Planned Parenthood is trying to eliminate the African American population. Because this incident was documented, it was used against him when he tried to head up efforts to get a photo ID law passed.

4. I learned about why our state AG sucks.  (It has to do with a lawsuit that was just dismissed. If he had prevailed, many voters could have potentially been disenfranchised.)  Something strikes me as really wrong about officials like attorneys general, who are responsible for enforcing the law, being chairpersons for campaigns (on either side).

5. We were not instructed to challenge anybody. (We weren't told not to, either. If we know somebody is voting in the wrong ward, I don't see why we couldn't.) In 2006, 2 people in Milwaukee were found to have voted illegally - one claimed to be someone she wasn't, and one tried to vote in two polling places. But it's pretty clear that voter suppression is a way bigger threat.

I'm really excited! I'm also a little nervous, though. I hope the Republican poll watchers who are at my ward aren't a-holes. I don't wanna have to rumble. I also hope no "abusive challengers" are there. I don't want to have to deal with that.