We Are Seeds: #9 of 10
Action Item 9: Support Voting Accessibility!
Voter ID laws, difficulty identifying and contacting elected officials, and polling locations made inaccessible by location and time constraints affect all of us in non-pandemic years. These barriers were exacerbated by safety concerns during the pandemic, and disproportionately affect disabled voters.
Wisconsin Disability Vote Coalition advocates for expansions of vote-by-mail policies, increasing accessibility of voter education about registration, obtaining IDs, maintaining/restoring voting rights to disabled adults, and poll transportation options. They also advocate for increased accessibility on websites, (such as ASL interpreters, captions, high-contrast text, and image IDs), and for ADA-compliant ballots that work with screen readers.
Why is this sustainable?
Sustain Dane explains that large gaps in voter turnout can increase socioeconomic inequality. And while voter turnout is higher in federal election years, many changes in city and county leadership, taxes, and infrastructure have a greater effect on individual voters, but turnout for these elections is frequently below 30%.
Speaking of which, we have a Wisconsin Spring Primary on Tuesday, February 16th, 2021 (now passed) and a Wisconsin Spring Election on Tuesday, April 6th, 2021.
#weareseedshunt
Thank you so much for participating in We Are Seeds, the sustainability-conscious scavenger hunt by T.L. Luke here in Madison, WI! This event is part of Winter is Alive! a cooler world carnival (a city-wide, multi-disciplinary event fusing art and spectacle to revision climate change and activate a global relationship) in an effort to educate the community about local sustainable action items and to highlight 50 local small businesses who have gone above and beyond during this pandemic.
This event will be going on from February 12th - March 7th, 2021.
Business Locations
- Strictly Discs - Dudgeon-Monroe Neighborhood - Beautiful re-issues and "new gems" available here! There's still time to "start your ear off right" in 2021.
- Johnson Public House - Tenney-Lapham Neighborhood - You've heard of carryout growlers, but hear us out.... what if they were filled with coffee instead?
- Communication - Schenk-Atwood Neighborhood - In the Before (and hopefully After) Times, this DIY space cultivated "a vibrant creative community" through exhibitions and live music!
- Mimosa - Downtown Neighborhood - If you want to get a masters in Shadow Work for less than the average monthly student loan payment, this is the store for you!
- Young Blood Beer Co. - Downtown Neighborhood - "An oasis of life and leisure" that regularly produces "A Fine Tapestry of Profanity."
- giige - Marquette Neighborhood - Avoid perfume and standing water afterwards to make sure your skin and spirit "heals up" after a visit!
Heads up, some of these decals have been stolen off of storefronts throughout the hunt. You may have even guessed our clues accurately but still didn't find the decal, and that sucks! But, it's not the businesses' faults, so please still show them your support! Thank you!
Credits
Illustrator & We Are Seeds Organizer: T.L. Luke
We Are Seeds Collaborator: Madison's Central Business Improvement District and City of Madison
Winter is Alive! Organizers: Tamsie Ringler, Bethany Jurewicz, and Karin Wolf
Sustainability Wisdom: Sustain Dane
Decal Fabricator: Billy Goat Graphics (Madison, WI)
T.L.'s Executive Assistant & Researcher: Eli Watson
"They buried us, but they didn't know we were seeds." - Dinos Christianopoulos