Bill to Keep Polling Places Open Ahead of Elections Gets Hearing in Senate

Friday, November 10th, 2023 -- 2:01 PM

(Raymond Neupert, WRN) A bill that prevents cities and counties from closing too many polling places within a month of an election got its first hearing in a State Senate Committee on Wednesday.

A new bill that got a hearing in the Senate elections committee on Wednesday would require cities to keep more than half of their polling places open during an election.

Milwaukee Democrat Lena Taylor said the city only had five polling places open during the spring 2020 elections because the city didn't get the help it needed to protect people during the pandemic. "After a review of the 2020 Wisconsin elections, the Brennan Center found that polling place consolidation reduced voter turnout by nearly 10%."

Talyor said voters in Milwaukee were forced to have just 5 polling places in spring of 2020 due to the pandemic. "I remember the frustration of the angry residents. I'd love for you to hear some of the voicemails that I had."

Two Rivers Republican Shae Sortwell says the poll closures many municipalities saw in the spring 2020 elections were unacceptable. "This shouldn't be happening. We should be making it easy for people to vote."

Sortwell said the closure of many polling places in cities like Green Bay and Milwaukee during the spring 2020 elections was unacceptable. "They should not have been closing that number of polling locations without some sort of way to make sure people knew it so that people were not disenfranchised so that people are able to exercise their constitutional right to vote."

A companion Assembly bill passed on Thursday.

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