'Pop-up' in-person absentee voting could come to Milwaukee hubs like Gee's Clippers, Fiserv Forum

Milwaukee community hubs like Fiserv Forum downtown and Gee's Clippers on King Drive could serve as "pop-up" in-person absentee voting sites in this year's elections for governor and U.S. Senate.

"There are a lot of people out here with no transportation, navigating through life on minimal resources, so if we can make it a little bit easier for them to take care of something that could possibly change their life, or change the lives of many in this world, then let's do it," said Gaulien "Gee" Smith, owner of Gee's Clippers.

The owner of the popular barbershop said he would love to open his doors to such efforts in future elections as well and believes businesses across the community should, too.

The voting sites could pop up in conjunction with events not only at Gee's but also at locations such as Coffee Makes You Black on North Teutonia Avenue, Milwaukee Election Commission Executive Director Claire Woodall-Vogg said.

They are just a few of the 27 potential locations that got the nod from the Common Council's Judiciary and Legislation Committee on Monday. The list will go before the full council June 1 and is part of a broader effort by community and government leaders to get residents to the polls.

However, all of the sites will not necessarily be used. The list represents a mix of possible pop-up and daily locations, in addition to places the city previously installed unstaffed drop boxes on which the state Supreme Court is set to rule.

"They are not binding, but as we learned in 2020, we don’t want to live with the regret of leaving one off!" Woodall-Vogg wrote in an email of the possible locations.

Ahead of the 2020 presidential election, the Election Commission in August announced plans to use Fiserv Forum and what was then Miller Park (now American Family Field) as in-person absentee voting locations before backtracking in October due to concerns over potential legal challenges.

The change of course followed a federal court ruling rejecting requests to expand in-person absentee voting and a Wisconsin Elections Commission notice to clerks saying the state agency had "no ability to authorize" clerks to designate alternate or additional sites for in-person absentee voting for the November election. Those sites had to have been designated by June 12, the notice stated.

As the coronavirus pandemic was raging that fall, the city broke historical records when 61,323 voters cast ballots at in-person absentee voting locations, according to the legislation approved by the committee. That amounted to 36% of all absentee ballots cast.

Woodall-Vogg anticipated the city would offer 12 to 15 daily locations, in addition to the pop-up sites. The sites will be staffed by Election Commission employees, she said.

The Nov. 8 election will be the highest-profile since the 2020 race in which Democrat Joe Biden beat then-incumbent Republican President Donald Trump.

Biden beat Trump by about 21,000 votes in Wisconsin. Trump sought recounts in Dane and Milwaukee counties, which confirmed Biden's win. Trump sued and the state Supreme Court upheld the results on a 4-3 vote on Dec. 14, 2020.

This fall, Democratic Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers and Republican U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson will face challengers. Who will oppose the two incumbents will be determined in the Aug. 9 primary.

As for why the Election Commission is launching these new sites now, Woodall-Vogg said, "Why not?"

On the list of potential locations are resource centers like the Social Development Commission on North Avenue.

Woodall-Vogg said she'd like to see that center and others like it become regular, daily voting hubs to reach people who might not otherwise be engaged in the democratic process. Potential voters regularly arrive at resource centers already in possession of the documents they need to register and cast a ballot, she said.

In addition, Serb Hall on West Oklahoma Avenue and Mexican Fiesta on South 20th Street will be added to the daily in-person absentee voting sites to serve a need for larger locations on the city's south side, Woodall-Vogg said.

They will function similar to the Midtown Shopping Center on Capitol Drive on the city's north side and will help address the longer lines at Zablocki Library on West Oklahoma Avenue, she said.

"We also think that they will both serve as important anchors as we work to make sure that our Latino community has the resources they need and the knowledge in order to register and to vote if they so choose," she told the committee.

Finally, she said she included in the list the locations of the city's 15 secure, unstaffed absentee ballot drop boxes in case the state Supreme Court's pending ruling on their legality requires that the drop boxes be noticed like the other voting locations.

Woodall-Vogg expressed confidence that the sites would withstand any legal challenges because they are properly noticed in compliance with state law.

The voting sites are part of a larger strategy to help residents register and vote ahead of the upcoming elections, community and elected leaders said at a Tuesday press conference at City Hall.

Anita Johnson of Souls to the Polls said voters are confused about how to register, the location of their polling sites, updating their addresses, the need for photo identification and how to cast an absentee ballot.

The effort seeks to help them overcome those issues, she said.

An online tool that allows people to quickly check their registration status is among the other ways the city and its partners plan to reach potential voters, Woodall-Vogg said. The tool on the city Election Commission website and likely also on non-city sites will make it possible for those who need to update their voter registration, find their polling site or see a sample ballot to click through to MyVote.wi.gov.

Tracking how often the online tool is used and how many new voters are registered and cast ballots as a result of the initiative are ways they'll determine whether the effort is effective, she said.

Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley said great strides have been made in making voting more accessible regardless of race, gender or ZIP code. But, he said, much remains to be done in urban and rural, blue and red coalike.

"Those strides have come under attack by those who wish to disenfranchise voters and really erode our democracy," he said. "And every eligible American, every single one of them, should have access to the ballot. Our democracy works best when our citizens have the ability to participate in high numbers."

Contact Alison Dirr at 414-224-2383 or adirr@jrn.com. Follow her on Twitter @AlisonDirr.

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This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Gee's Clippers, Fiserv Form may be hubs for Milwaukee "pop-up" voting