Miller Park To Be Early Voting Site

You won’t be able to cheer on a home run at Miller Park this year, but you will be able to vote for the next President at the ballpark.

A notice from the Milwaukee Election Commission notes that the stadium will be one of 15 sites for in-person early voting for the 2020 fall election. It doesn’t specify whether voters would enter the stadium, or use a temporary facility in one of the many surface parking lots.

The stadium location is a substitute from an approved list of 16 early voting locations. The Milwaukee Common Council held an emergency, 11:30 p.m. meeting on June 11th, with little explanation, to approve the list. Miller Park, 1 Brewers Way, replaces the Canon Park Pavilion, 303 N. 95th St., on the list.

A recent federal court ruling would limit early voting to only the two weeks prior to the election. But the city is still moving to scale up the number of early voting sites.

Miller Park is one of 15 locations that would be used in advance of the November 3rd general election that will include races for President, U.S. House of Representatives, the Wisconsin Legislature and a host of lightly contested or uncontested local races. Only three locations will be used for early voting for the August 11th primary.

The city had three early voting sites in Fall 2016, eight in November 2018 and three for the April 2020 election. But the election commission closed the early voting sites in March, pivoting to a drive-through system as the COVID-19 pandemic took hold. Due to the surge in absentee voting by mail the city opened five drop-off locations for ballots to mitigate issues with mail delays. The city ultimately had only five in-person, day-of voting sites because of staffing shortages.

Another stadium could play a role in the election. Following a move by the Atlanta Hawks and Fulton County, Georgia to use State Farm Arena as a voting site, the Milwaukee Bucks offered Fiserv Forum for use in the election. “We’re looking forward to working with the City of Milwaukee, in any capacity that we can, to ensure ppl can safely exercise their right to vote!” tweeted Bucks senior vice president Alex Lasry on July 1st. The team is partnering with LeBron James‘ voting rights group More Than A Vote on the effort.

The notice from the election commission does not include mention of Fiserv Forum, but does maintain an early voting site at the adjacent Milwaukee Area Technical College campus.

Milwaukee Election Commission Executive Director Neil Albrecht did not respond to a request for comment by the time of publication.

Primary Election Early Voting Sites

• Frank P. Zeidler Municipal Building, 841 N. Broadway
• Midtown Center, 5700 W. Capitol Dr.
• Manitoba School, 4040 W. Forest Home Ave.

General Election Early Voting Sites

• Frank P. Zeidler Municipal Building, 841 N. Broadway
• Midtown Center, 5700 W. Capitol Dr.
• Zablocki Library, 3501 W. Oklahoma Ave.
• Milwaukee Area Technical College (MATC), 700 W. State St.
• University of Wisconsin – Milwaukee Student Union, 2200 E. Kenwood Blvd.
• IndependenceFirst, 540 S. 1st St.
• East Library, 2320 N. Cramer St.
• Mitchell Street Library, 906 W. Historic Mitchell St.
• Washington Park Library, 2121 N. Sherman Blvd.
• Villard Square Library, 5190 N. 35th St.
• Good Hope Library, 7717 W. Good Hope Rd.
• Bay View Library, 2566 S. Kinnickinnic Ave.
• Tippecanoe Library, 3912 S. Howell Ave.
• Miller Park, 1 Brewers Way
• Clinton Rose Senior Center, 3045 N. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Dr.

The notice says that Manitoba School was dropped from the general election list “due to availability.”