Fitchburg Alder Joe Maldonado and DJ Terrance J will be hosting a South Madison Get Out The Vote party on Saturday, Nov. 2, 2:30-4 p.m. at Urban Triage on Madison’s South Side as they look to maximize the voting numbers in the Madison area ahead of the upcoming presidential election Nov. 5.
“The purpose of the event is to triple the vote in south Madison and to reach underrepresented voters to be able to get folks to the polls,” Maldonado tells Madison365. “We are going to have food trucks, music, some swag and giveaways. It’s going to be a good time.”
The South Madison Get Out The Vote Party will be hosted by Working Families Power, a nonprofit political and voter engagement organization.
“For folks that arrive at the party, if they can text five of their friends and ask them to vote, they’ll be able to be eligible for food and prizes,” Maldonado says. “We will be really close to some early voting locations, so folks, if they haven’t voted, will be able to walk over and vote right down there at the party.”
Early voting locations in South Madison include Goodman South Madison Library, Monroe Street Library, Centro Hispano of Dane County, Freedom Inc. Madison College South Campus, Catholic Multicultural Center, Boys & Girls Club on Allied; Fountain of Life Church, and Badger Rock Neighborhood Center.
“On that particular day, the Urban League will be open to vote until 3 p.m. and the Goodman South Library will be open until 4 p.m. and they will be both right where the party is being held,” Maldonado says.
In the 2020 presidential election, turnout in Dane County was very high at 89.3%. Maldonado is hoping to see similar or better numbers this year by turning out voters in South Madison, the most diverse area in Dane County.
“Dane County is a really high turnout community, but we want to grab anybody who may or may not have had a plan to vote, and make sure that we talk to all of our friends and family and get out and get the turnout really high,” he says.
The event will be in the Villager Mall parking lot adjacent to Urban Triage so it’s really easy and accessible for people to stop by in South Madison.
“This election is incredibly important. We, of course, have the presidential race and the US Senate race and the cities of Madison and Fitchburg both have referendums as well as MMSD [Madison Metropolitan School District]. We also have assembly and senate races for the state of Wisconsin. We have the race of the Dane County executive, too. So it’s just really high stakes this election,” Maldonado says.
“We just want to make sure folks are as engaged as possible, and there’s no barriers for folks to be able to vote. So we want to make sure to be out where the people are. It’s going to be fun and a great chance to meet people and network, too. We’re looking forward to it.”
