Officials push city to offer early voting at UWGB

GREEN BAY - Some elected officials are pushing back against the city's refusal to open an early voting location at the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay.

Student groups and their supporters have sought an early voting location on campus to alleviate long lines on election day. City staff said there isn't enough time because state law indicates they should give public notice of the location 14 days before the start of early voting, which began Monday in Green Bay.

But an attorney with the Wisconsin Elections Commission said that time frame is a suggestion, not a requirement.

"It’s pretty clear that we still have the time to offer that remote location," State Rep. Eric Genrich, D-Green Bay, said. "We’ve tried to answer as many questions as we could and knock down the barriers (City Hall has) perceived. Now it's just a question of if there’s a will to do it."

Representatives from eight UWGB student organizations, including the College Republicans and Democrats, signed a letter to the City Clerk on Sept. 8 requesting early voting on campus.

Voting on campus became a concern after the April presidential primary election, when poll workers reported voters had to wait up to two hours to cast a ballot. Students complained about having to choose between staying in line to vote or going to class for exams scheduled the same day.

Lines are expected to be longer during the Nov. 8 general election.

RELATED:UWGB students urge city to fix voting logjam

The city is not changing its position that time has run out to open a new early voting site.

Last week, Celestine Jeffreys, chief of staff for the mayor's office, cited a state statute that municipalities must designate alternative early voting sites "no fewer than 14 days prior to the time that ballots are available."

But in an email solicited by Genrich, Nathan Judnic, legal counsel for the Wisconsin Elections Commission, wrote the statute provides a framework but "we do not view this '14-day' designation language as a mandatory requirement to establishing a location used for in-person absentee voting."

After reviewing Judnic's opinion, Jeffreys said the notification period was "one of the easier challenges to overcome." She said the city would also first need to spend time researching secure and accessible locations. Then, the city would need to find money in its budget to pay for the site and poll workers. And, that expense would need to be approved by the Green Bay City Council, which next meets Oct. 4, Jeffreys said.

"Unfortunately, we will not be able to establish that polling location anywhere for this election in November because there simply isn’t enough time for us to do it adequately," she said. "Look, elections need to be above board, transparent and fair. We will always want the public to have confidence in our election process, so we need to take the care required to establish those polling locations."

Alderwoman Barb Dorff, whose district includes UWGB, said she's disappointed with the city's decision.

"It was the site that did have problems in April. People talked about leaving the polls because it was too long of a line. People didn’t exercise their right to vote because it was so crowded," Dorff said.

Municipalities recently gained the option of expanding early voting hours and locations due to a series of court decisions this summer.

U.S. District Judge James Peterson in July struck down several Republican-backed laws eliminating weekend voting, restricting when early voting could begin and limiting early voting to one location in each municipality.

State Attorney General Brad Schimel tried to block the ruling, but an appeals panel let it stand.

Jeffreys said the city is considering expanding early voting times and locations for the 2017 spring election.

arodewal@pressgazettemedia.com and follow him on Twitter @AdamGRodewald and on Facebook at Facebook.com/AdamGRodewald.