erika nelson
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Step Right Up! Voting Booth: Wisconsin 
September 26 - October 24, 2020

Printed coroplast, printed ballots, hole punches
The final Step Right Up! Your Voices, Your Votes installation featured a cojoined Donky and Elephant, made up of reimagined political yard signs. The Pushmi-Pullyu form held ballots, where participants could rank their confidence in their vote, their trust in their neighbors, and their level of hopefulness in the voting process. Votes were gathered and tallied daily throughout the exhibition.

This iteration was installed on a rural farm as a part of Wormfarm Institute’s Farm Art Dtour. The farmstead held a split household (Democrat and Rebublican) as well as a split agriculture practice (traditional and organic).

2255 ballots were cast over 10 days. Some people voted all 4 questions, some only 1. Not everyone who visited the installation voted, and not all people on the Dtour visited. During this timeframe, the first Presidential Debate happened, Coronavirus invaded the White House, and harvest season hit full swing in the Sauk County region.

This was the last installation for a (proposed) year-long initiative, bringing carnival-style voting booths to art festivals in an effort to facilitate conversations about our voting systems and encourage voter registration. COVID limited the project to the first and last festivals only: Minnesota and Wisconsin.