Where and When To Vote Early in Milwaukee

Milwaukee residents can vote early from October 20th through November 1st at a record 14 different locations across the city.

City of Milwaukee residents can visit any of the 14 sites to cast an in-person absentee ballot. If a by-mail ballot has already been issued, but not returned, it will be canceled and a new ballot can be cast. But whether voting by mail or in person, state law dictates that the ballot be placed in an envelope and processed as an absentee ballot on election day after polls open.

Registered voters can bring any form of valid photo identification to cast their ballot. Voters looking to register in-person can do so at any early voting site through October 30th, but must bring more documentation.

Curbside voting is available at each site on an as-requested basis, but based on Tuesday’s observed lines voters should expect to wait longer in a line to do so. Lines for walk-up voting varied substantially by time of day and polling place location with the longest lines observed by Urban Milwaukee mid-day at Midtown Center. Want to vote early and have the shortest wait possible? Go early, with regard to both the time of the day and days until the election.

Voters at the early voting sites will find a slightly different process than voters at the 173 polling places on election day. In order to avoid having to print and store every possible ballot for the city’s over 300 wards at each of the sites, the city has switched to using touchscreen ExpressVote machines that print a reviewable ballot after digital selections are made. Voters on election day will make their selections on paper. For more on the machines, see our coverage from February.

Don’t want to vote early or by mail? Vote in person (and register) at the polls on election day, November 3rd. The state’s My Vote WI website provides the location of a voter’s polling place.

By-mail absentee ballots can be returned at any of the early voting sites as well as the 15 dropboxes across the city. Individuals at early voting sites can provide witness signatures if needed.

The city had three early voting sites in Fall 2016, eight in November 2018, three for the April 2020 election and three for the August 2020 primary. A recent federal court ruling limits early voting to only the two weeks prior to the election.

As of Friday, the Wisconsin Elections Commission reports 125,408 ballots have been mailed to Milwaukee voters and 67,067 returned.

Early Voting Locations

The following sites will be open weekdays from 8:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m., and Saturdays and Sundays from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.

• Frank P. Zeidler Municipal Building – 841 N. Broadway
• Midtown Center – 5700 W. Capitol Dr.
• Zablocki Library – 3501 W. Oklahoma Ave.

The following sites will be open shorter hours (Monday-Tuesday 7:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m., Wednesday-Friday 1:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m., Saturday-Sunday 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.):

• Bay View Library – 2566 S. Kinnickinnic Ave.
• Cannon Park Pavilion – 303 N. 95th St.
• Clinton Rose Senior Center – 3045 N. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Dr.
• East Library – 2320 N. Cramer St.
• Good Hope Library – 7717 W. Good Hope Rd.
• Mitchell Street Library – 906 W. Historic Mitchell St.
• Tippecanoe Library – 3912 S. Howell Ave.
• Villard Square Library – 5190 N. 35th St.
• Washington Park Library – 2121 N. Sherman Blvd.

The UW-Milwaukee Student Union (2200 E. Kenwood Blvd.) will be open Monday through Friday from 10:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. The Milwaukee Area Technical College downtown campus T-building (1101 N. 6th St.) will be open Monday through Saturday, 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Fiserv Forum and Miller Park were removed as early voting sites following the threat of a legal challenge. The sites were not on a list approved at a June emergency meeting of the Common Council. Two sites on the list, but dropped for logistical reasons, IndependenceFirst and Manitoba School are available by appointment for voters with transportation issues. Email kdzapat@milwaukee.gov to request an appointment.

The Milwaukee Election Commission website includes more information on early voting.