Milwaukee scraps early voting plans at Fiserv, Miller Park

MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Election officials said Tuesday that they scrapped their plans to use the Milwaukee Bucks and Brewers' stadiums as early voting sites in the presidential battleground state of Wisconsin.

Milwaukee's election commission had planned to use Fiserv Forum and Miller Park between Oct. 20 and Nov. 1 as sites where people could have voted early in-person or returned absentee ballots they received by mail. The commission developed the plan in an effort to provide safe voting sites during the coronavirus pandemic.

But the commission's executive director, Claire Woodall-Vogg, said Tuesday that the plans were shelved because a recent court ruling could open the door to legal challenges.

“We want residents of Milwaukee to feel complete and unwavering confidence that their ballot will be counted in the election and this action reflects that commitment,” she said in a statement. It's unclear which court ruling Woodall-Vogg was referring to.

Asked for specifics on the ruling in an email, she responded instead by pointing to a memo the Wisconsin Elections Commission released Monday warning that under state law, all early voting sites had to have been designated by June 12. The plan to host early voting at Fiserv and Miller Park was implemented on Sept. 1, Woodall-Vogg said.

The commission said it has been receiving questions from clerks throughout Wisconsin about the possibility of designating additional in—person early voting sites as the election approaches.

The state Republican Party warned last week that allowing Bucks and Brewers players and mascots at the events would amount to illegal electioneering. Party Chairman Andrew Hitt cited a state law that defines illegal electioneering as “any activity which is intended to influence voting at an...