How WI GOP-Approved Ballot Restrictions Will Depress Milwaukee Vote

A lot of the focus on GOP State Senate-approved limitations to in-person absentee voting in Wisconsin statewide has been on its intentional reduction of early voting hours.

Now the City of Milwaukee's election commission has put together data (below) showing how mandating in-person absentee voting to a single site will further disadvantage and jam the voters in a big city like Milwaukee - - but less so in smaller (read: often Republican) communities:

·       Since the 2000 General Election, in-person absentee voting percentages have increased 700% in the City of Milwaukee.  Municipalities across the state and the nation are experiencing comparable interest by voters in “voting early.”  

·       By comparing voting statistics from municipalities across the state, it is evident that Milwaukee and Madison have the lowest percentages of in-person absentee voters.  These percentages demonstrate how the existing limitation of one site per municipality has effected in-person absentee voting for large municipalities.  As a result of this restriction, Milwaukee and Madison have not had the same ability to maximize in-person absentee voting as a mechanism for increasing access to voting and alleviating overcrowding at voting sites at comparable rates to other municipalities. If parity and uniformity are really the goals, Milwaukee should have multiple sites.

·       The limitation of one site per municipality, regardless of size, and the recent further restriction and limitation to the hours of operations places a cap on the capacity of large municipalities like Milwaukee and Madison, to respond to the increased public interest in voting early and the unique needs of residents in urban areas.  

·       As a result of the newly passed restriction to hours, the % of in-person absentee voters in large municipalities like Milwaukee and Madison will  decrease, while the percentages of other smaller municipalities, not effected by the cap on capacity, will  continue to increase.

·       The highest percentage of in-person absentee voters in Milwaukee reside in Aldermanic Districts 6 and 7, two geographic areas of the city largely populated by the people in the lowest socio-economic classes.   The continued restrictions to in-person voting will have the greatest impact on these populations.

HINDI	County	Municipality	Registrants	Total Ballots	In-Person	Turnout %	% In-Person
	JACKSON COUNTY	TOWN OF HIXTON	358	328	2	91.62%	0.61%
	DANE COUNTY	CITY OF MADISON	182859	150464	18740	82.28%	12.45%
	MILWAUKEE COUNTY	CITY OF MILWAUKEE	328202	289232	36349	88.13%	12.57%
	WAUKESHA COUNTY	VILLAGE OF CHENEQUA	427	383	74	89.70%	19.32%
	KENOSHA COUNTY	CITY OF KENOSHA	52745	45318	10046	85.92%	22.17%
	WAUKESHA COUNTY	CITY OF NEW BERLIN	28723	26046	6588	90.68%	25.29%
	WAUKESHA COUNTY	TOWN OF OCONOMOWOC	6209	5664	1462	91.22%	25.81%
	OZAUKEE COUNTY	CITY OF PORT WASHINGTON	7533	6710	1745	89.07%	26.01%
	WAUKESHA COUNTY	CITY OF DELAFIELD	4975	4396	1159	88.36%	26.36%
	WINNEBAGO COUNTY	TOWN OF MENASHA	10633	9602	2706	90.30%	28.18%
	MILWAUKEE COUNTY	VILLAGE OF WHITEFISH BAY	8115	7811	2695	96.25%	34.50%