MILWAUKEE -- The city of Milwaukee has set a new record for early voting turnout with three days to go.
As of Wednesday, 38,000 people have cast their ballots at early voting sites. To put that figure into context, it’s up from a total of 36,500 in 2012.
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The Milwaukee Election Commission said the biggest difference in this election cycle is voters have more options. This year, there have been three early voting sites since September 26. The Midtown Center on Milwaukee’s north side has drawn about half of the in-person early votes, followed by the Zeidler Municipal Building in downtown and the Forest Home Library on the south side.
Mayor Tom Barrett said the city estimates around 50,000 in-person absentee votes by the end of Saturday.
"We always felt that if we had more locations and more hours that more people would want to vote early,” he said. “The reason they want to vote early is because they have daycare schedules, they have work schedules or they’re going to be leaving town.”
A hot topic after recent comments from Donald Trump has been whether or not Milwaukeeans are changing their votes after they’ve already cast a ballot. The Milwaukee Election Commission said fewer than a dozen have done so in Milwaukee.
Friday, Nov. 4 is the deadline to register at the three early voting locations prior to the election. Same day registration is available at the polls on November 8.
