Fiserv Forum And Miller Park To Be Used For Early Voting, Milwaukee Officials Say

Voters in Milwaukee and Madison will have new options to cast their ballots early this fall.

In Milwaukee, Fiserv Forum and Miller Park will be used as early voting locations, city officials announced on Monday.

Fiserv Forum, home to the Milwaukee Bucks, will host indoor in-person absentee voting from Oct. 20 through Nov. 1. Drive-through voting will be set up at the Brewers’ Miller Park at dates yet to be determined.

At a press conference Monday, Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett said he expects to see a very high number of people voting early for the November election.

“In this tumultuous year, we know that it has become more difficult literally, physically, for people to vote,” he said. “We saw that in April, and we’ve also seen a dramatic change in how people vote.”

Milwaukee officials already approved 16 locations for in-person absentee voting in June, under pressure to meet a deadline. Although officials were required to announce locations for in-person absentee voting already, Milwaukee Election Commission Executive Director Claire Woodall-Vogg said the two new locations were added to give people more options to vote safely.

“What our hope is, is if there was any challenge, any decision-makers would recognize that we are in the midst of a pandemic, and that our voters’ safety comes first,” she said.

Neither location will be used for voting on Election Day Nov. 3, said Woodall-Vogg.

In Madison, the city will hold absentee ballot drop-off events in parks throughout the city on two consecutive Saturdays this fall. On Sep. 26 and Oct. 3 from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., voters will be able to bring their ballots to one of more than 200 city parks.

Each park will have a poll worker to witness ballots and answer questions for voters who may not want to send in their absentee ballots by mail.

“Voting by mail is not a good option for everyone, and we want everybody to know that they have a safe option for casting their ballot, whether that be in person or via mail,” said Madison City Clerk Maribeth Witzel-Behl.

Poll workers will not be issuing ballots at these events, she said, only collecting them. They will also be registering voters.

Voters can check their registration status at https://myvote.wi.gov/.