Milwaukee Voting Goes Smoothly With No Early Lines

By Isiah Holmes, Wisconsin Examiner

November 8, 2022

Voters in the Milwaukee area began arriving as soon as the doors to polling places opened at 7 a.m.

Over in the city of West Allis, a Milwaukee-area suburb, voters trickled alone or in pairs. Unlike during the 2020 presidential election, there were no long lines at the West Allis city hall. Even in the early hours of the 2020 presidential election, a line stretched out the door and around the block. One this Election Day, voters aren’t waiting nearly as long to cast their ballots. In the 2018 election for governor, 94.88% of registered voters in West Allis voted.

Polling places in the city of Milwaukee also seemed to be handling a stream of voters with ease and dozens of polling places open throughout the city. During the so-called Pandemic Primary of 2020, when only five polling places were open, a line stretched down the street and around the block at Washington High School in Milwaukee’s Sherman Park neighborhood. The predominantly African American neighborhood was full of enthusiastic voters who braved the uncertainty of voting during a pandemic.

By 9 a.m., Washington High School was also free of long lines. Voters streamed in and out of the high school, casting a total of 117 votes within the first two hours of Election Day voting. The situation was similar at Riverside High School, on Milwaukee’s East Side Riverwest neighborhood. Riverside High School had seen 228 ballots cast by 9:23 a.m.

A poll chaplain stood by at the North Division polling site, helping ensure people are registered to vote. At North Division High School, in a predominantly African American North Side neighborhood, about 100 ballots were cast in the first three hours of voting and more people were flowing in. In late October, the high school was visited by former U.S. President Barack Obama, who joined Gov. Tony Evers and U.S. Senate candidate Mandela Barnes for an early voting rally.

Early figures from just a few of Milwaukee’s dozens of polling sites don’t include absentee ballots and early voting. According to the Milwaukee election commissions website, 28,661 early votes were counted in the city of Milwaukee. None of the polling sites showed signs of harassment, propaganda, or other issues that have arisen in recent elections.

In Wisconsin’s great progressive tradition, we aim to hold the powerful accountable to the people, follow the money, and dig out the truth. Although we give you the inside scoop, we are not a publication for “insiders.” Instead, we cover the way politics and government affect citizens of the state.