Midtown Early Voting Site Moving
With new owner of Midtown Center shopping complex, city moving across Capitol Drive.
ExpressVote voting machine used at early voting sites. Photo by Jeramey Jannene.
The popular Midtown Center early voting center site is on the move.
Milwaukee Election Commission (MEC) director Claire Woodall announced Thursday that the popular early voting site will relocate from leased space in the Midtown Center shopping complex, 5740 W. Capitol Dr., to a newly-leased space in a nearby commercial building at 6001 W. Capitol Dr.
“We are confident that negotiations of a lease will be successful and that voters can vote early beginning in February at 6001 W. Capitol Drive,” said Woodall in a statement.
Woodall revealed during her department’s Oct. 2 budget presentation that the longtime site, which accounted for approximately 30% of the city’s early votes in the past two election cycles, was in jeopardy of moving.
An Atlanta investment group, Laureate Capital, acquired the shopping center in May and, according to Woodall, was seeking to nearly triple the monthly lease cost to $5,746 plus utilities while offering only a third of the prior amount of space.
A Laureate representative said it was negotiating to lease the previously used space to a long-term tenant.
The city is now swapping the northeast corner of the intersection of N. 60th Street and W. Capitol Drive for the southwest corner.
The new space is located within a two-story commercial building that was previously home to Securant Bank & Trust.
In a press release, MEC said the new location is on multiple bus lines, has parking space for 90 vehicles and is fully ADA accessible.
“This part of Milwaukee is an appropriate location for an early voting site, and this new building is the best alternative to our former location,” said Mayor Cavalier Johnson, who previously represented the area on the council. “When we learned our old space was no longer available, the Election Commission promptly pursued a suitable alternative, and their work has succeeded.”
Woodall said a new lease would run through the 2025 election cycle. Once completed, it will be subject to council approval.
With its budget adoption meeting scheduled for Friday, the Common Council is expected to add funding to expand the number of early voting sites. Council members have also made it clear that they would fund a solution to the Midtown Center issue once a final cost is known.
“I am confident in Alderman [Mark Chambers, Jr.] ability to get us to the finish line there or find us an alternative that can yield the same results,” said José G. Pérez in an October interview.
Souls to the Polls collected more than 500 signatures in support of saving the Midtown Center voting site via an online petition.
“Closing Midtown as an early voting site will only confuse voters, and I fear, impact voter turnout,” said group director Greg Lewis, a pastor, in a statement. “The Black and Brown community sees what is happening. We know our power and we know others are trying to diminish that power. We won’t stand for it!”
The new site was acquired in March 2022 by Illinois-based Ahmad Properties for $740,000.
Permit applications indicate a series of firms lease space in the building, including an adult daycare, photography studio, foot care studio T Creations, Smith Transit Express, Akia Enterprise, Darby’s Construction and On Time Dumpster’s.
Early voting, technically in-person absentee voting, lasts for two weeks in the run-up to an election. Voters can also return mailed absentee ballots to early voting sites while they are open. Unlike election day voting, city voters can vote at any early voting site. Early votes are processed alongside mail-in ballots at the city’s central count facility on election day.
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