To Spread Awareness Of Voter ID Law, Officials Turn To Social Media

Government officials in Milwaukee and Dane County have been using social media in unexpected ways to educate voters about Wisconsin’s recently reinstated voter ID law

Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett, for example, has announced a social media campaign in which he’s asked elected officials and voters to post photos or videos of themselves with their voting-ready ID with the hashtag “voterIDchallenge.”

“We had some fun with it,” said Barrett. “The aldermen and alderwomen who did this with me yesterday to issue the challenge all picked some really bad pictures of ourselves because everybody feels lousy about their photo ID picture.”

Below are some tweets from the campaign:

One month to the election! Do you have your ID yet? http://www.bringit.wisconsin.gov/ or for #UWM students: http://www5.uwm.edu/news/2014/09/16/getting-a-uwm-voter-id/#.VDPsn2ddVSo #VoterIDChallenge

— Emily Topczewski (@emilyctop) October 7, 2014

My ID is on the way! I’m challenging @MUSG and @MarquetteU students to show they’re ready to vote. #VoterIDChallenge pic.twitter.com/siXFRR8NWr

— David Kuta (@DavidEKuta) October 6, 2014

Ald. Terry Witkowski issues a Garden District #voterIDchallenge, and solves a tricky @CountyParks question http://youtu.be/JjYj1mXr9IQ

— City of Milwaukee (@cityofmilwaukee) October 6, 2014

Went kinda bonkers with the #voterIDchallenge…http://youtu.be/9XC6P-QcJm8. @MKECLERK and @Bill_ArnoldMKE you’re next http://milwaukee.gov/voteridchallenge

— Dusty Weis (@dustyweis) October 6, 2014

Michael Wagner, professor at the UW-Madison’s School of Journalism and Mass Communications, said that using social media to get the voter ID message out is pretty savvy.

“Social media has been shown to be a great persuader when it comes to getting people involved in politics,” said Wagner.

In Dane County, outreach regarding voter ID has harnessed a different type of social media: YouTube videos. Dane County Clerk Scott McDonell enlisted the help of the long-running Star Wars-themed web series “Chad Vader” to spread the word about voter ID. The county released a video last Friday showing Chad Vader going to the Department of Motor Vehicles in order to get an ID for the polls.

Watch the video below: