A series of emails recovered from Green Bay City Clerk Kris Teske suggest
The message, obtained by The Nation, reveals Teske’s concern about the tendency of college students to vote Democratic in opting to limit early voting on campus.
Teske had publicly stated the reason for the lone early voting polling place, which is a 15-minute drive from UW-Green Bay’s campus, was due to funding concerns.
“UWGB is a polling location for students and residents on Election Day but I feel by asking for this to be the site for early voting is encouraging the students to vote more than benefiting the city as a whole,” Teske said in the email to David Buerger, a member of the Wisconsin Ethics Commission. “I have heard it said that students lean more toward the [Democrats] … I have spoken with our Chief of Staff and others at City Hall and they agree that budget wise this isn’t going to happen. Do I have an argument about it being more of a benefit to the democrats?”
The request for early polling places came from multiple student organizations and state Rep. Eric Genrich, D-Green
A representative from Green Bay, Mayor Jim Schmitt, said Teske was merely trying to ensure early voting sites did not give an advantage to one particular party.
A July court decision overturned early voting cutbacks in effort to “curtail minority voting,” especially in Milwaukee, according to U.S. District Court Judge James Peterson.
This turnover decision led to 11 early voting polling places in Madison. Many polling locations have been set up in UW-Madison libraries with great success. Seventy-five percent of the 9,000 ballots cast in early voting have come from libraries in the area, according to WMTV. These locations promote convenience with late-hour and weekend availability.
