Starting next year, Milwaukee will more than double its current number of early voting locations.
Mayor Tom Barrett joined the Wisconsin Voices and the liberal One Wisconsin Institute in announcing that the city approved funds for eight places where Milwaukee resident can vote absentee in person next year — up from three sites in 2016.
The Institute won a federal lawsuit last year in which Judge James Peterson struck down limits on early voting set by state Republicans, which included a ban on allowing absentee balloting at multiple locations. Despite the victory, voting in Milwaukee dropped dramatically in 2016 compared to 2012, with about 41,000 fewer ballots cast in the presidential election.