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Former US Attorney General Eric Holder Discusses Gerrymandering At UW-Madison

Obama-Era AG Encourages Students To Vote

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Former U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder discusses gerrymandering and voter ID laws at the University of Wisconsin Madison on Friday, March 16. Marylee Williams/WPR

Former U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder made his second stop in the state this week at the University of Wisconsin-Madison on Friday. The Obama-era official said to a crowd of about 50 people that voter ID laws and gerrymandering are suppressing voter turnout.

“I’m here to tell you that the biggest rigged system in this country is the system of gerrymandering and voter ID laws,” Holder said. “What they’ve tried to do there is rig the system such that people like you don’t have the ability to get to the polls in the numbers that you represent.”

NextGen America, a Democratic student group, hosted the event.

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Holder is the chair of the National Democratic Redistricting Committee. He’s come out in support of candidates, like Rebecca Dallet who is running for Wisconsin Supreme Court, who favor redistricting in the state.

Speaking at the Memorial Union on campus, Holder encouraged students to organize and bring people with them to the polls. He said young people need to be heard.

“I’m saying if we have a level playing field and this is a battle between Democratic and progressive ideas and Republican and conservative ideas, that Democrats and progressives will do just fine,” he said.

After his speech, Holder addressed a Milwaukee Journal Sentinel article that revealed Russian-backed Twitter accounts drummed up tension during the 2016 Sherman Park unrest that followed the fatal shooting of Sylville Smith by a police officer. The article states the foreign tweets blamed Democrats for the riots and lifted up conservative voices.

“The notion that the Russians were trying to inflame racial tension in a state in our nation to have an electoral effect really shows the sophistication, you know, the depth of what it is that they did,” he said. “And I would suggest possible interactions that they’ve had with people in this country who perhaps helped them to demonstrate this is what you need to do if you want to have an impact on the election.”

Holder said if he were still attorney general, he would be ordering an investigation in Wisconsin and utilize FBI resources.

Along with supporting Dallet’s campaign for state Supreme Court, Holder also said he thinks the National Democratic Redistricting Committee will be spending more time and money in the state.

“I expect we will be spending more money generally in Wisconsin, and I suspect I’ll be coming back to Wisconsin after April the 3rd,” he said.

According to the Associated Press, also on Friday, the Wisconsin Republican Party asked the state Judicial Commission to launch an investigation into Dallet’s acceptance of campaign donations from attorneys with cases before her.

Judges are allowed to take money from attorneys, and Dallet’s campaign manager Jessica Lovejoy said it’s a baseless complaint.