Early voting begins Monday in city clerks’ offices across Wisconsin. Voters who can’t make it to the polls on Election Day will be able to cast ballots during the two weeks prior to the August 12 primary. It’s the first election since Republicans who control the state legislature put limits on the process. Under the changes, in-person absentee voting can only be conducted during the two business weeks prior to an election. Voting is limited to 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Friday, with no weekend hours allowed. Supporters say the changes create a uniform process, while opponents argued the limits pose a challenge in large cities such as Milwaukee. … [S]everal activist groups remain upset about the changes to early voting, and are weighing whether to take action. Scot Ross, Executive Director of One Wisconsin Now, believes the changes amount to a deliberate attempt to disenfranchise certain voters.
“We are looking at this attack on the rights of predominantly people in cities and young people from being able to access early voting in the state of Wisconsin, something that in the past has helped us have amongst the highest voter turnouts in the nation,” Ross says.
Ross notes activists were successful in getting several courts to throw out Wisconsin’s Voter ID law. He says his group will spend the next few months looking at the impact of the early voting changes, and decide whether to challenge their constitutionality.
Full Article: Early Voting Begins in Wisconsin, With New Limits on Hours | WUWM.