Milwaukee, WI

The public watches as Milwaukee conducts a demonstration of Election Day voting equipment

Published

1 year ago

October 26, 2024

The public watches as Milwaukee conducts a demonstration of Election Day voting equipment

Nearly a dozen observers gathered at the City of Milwaukee Election Commission’s warehouse in the city’s Bay View neighborhood Saturday to watch as election workers conducted a public test of the equipment that will be used to tally votes on Nov. 5.

At one of the machines stood Election Commission Executive Director Paulina Gutiérrez fielding detailed questions from a group of eight. Behind her, test ballots whirred through one of the machines that lined the wall inside a back room of the warehouse.

The log of observers indicated that eight were from the Republican Party. Of the remaining three, one was listed as “Wisconsin Election Protection,” one was a member of the public and one was an employee of the company that makes the machines.

“Public testing is part of the statutory process of election preparation, but I think it really gives the public an opportunity to see how we do the work that we do and to see the machines and … familiarize themselves with those machines, and then also learn about our process,” Gutiérrez told reporters.

Municipalities must conduct the public test within 10 days before an election, a step meant to ensure that voting equipment programming is accurate, according to the Wisconsin Elections Commission.

To ensure the election equipment is tallying results correctly, election officials feed a set of pre-marked ballots into each machine and review the results that are generated. The testing only ends when the count is free of errors, with any problems found in the testing being fixed before the equipment can be used in the election, according to the state Elections Commission.

Public test of election equipment comes as intense scrutiny of Milwaukee’s election process expected on Nov. 5

The public test comes just over a week before the city’s election administration is expected to again be under intense scrutiny in the tight race for the White House between former President Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris.

Trump in 2020 leaned into false claims, including about voting in Milwaukee, to try to undermine the election in which he lost the White House to his Democratic challenger Joe Biden.

Trump lost Wisconsin by about 21,000 votes, an outcome confirmed by recounts he paid for, court rulings, a nonpartisan state audit and a study by a prominent conservative group.

Gutiérrez on Saturday urged those with concerns about the city’s election process to participate in the process by serving as a poll worker.

And, she said, people who are conducting the election as poll workers are a bipartisan group consisting of members of the community.

“The staff that work for us are amazing staff,” she said. “It’s thousands of people that live and work in this community. They are your neighbors. They are your friends.”

Among the observers Saturday was Doug Kwikkel of Hartland.

The GOP volunteer said he wanted to come Saturday to see how the process works. He said he was comforted to see paper ballots being used and how “exacting” election officials were in their processes.

Kwikkel said he saw it as his duty as an American to participate.

A first-time election observer, Kwikkel said he got involved now because “this election is way too important for us not to get out and vote and participate.”

He plans to observe at one of the city’s polling places on Election Day, too, he said.

Election machines ‘passed the rigorous logic and accuracy standards’ ahead of Election Day

On Saturday, the city’s public test included all 13 high-speed “tabulators” that will be used to tally results from tens of thousands of absentee ballots at Milwaukee’s central county location and a sampling of the machines that will be used at the city’s 180 individual polling locations.

All machines that will be used to count votes on Nov. 5 were previously tested and “passed the rigorous logic and accuracy standards,” according to a city Election Commission spokesperson.

Gutiérrez has estimated that the city could receive 80,000 absentee ballots. As of 10:40 a.m. Saturday, the city had issued 65,487 absentee ballots and 49,067 had been returned. In-person absentee voting started Tuesday.

On Saturday, election officials used 5,000 test ballots that showed every possible combination of votes that could be on a ballot, Gutiérrez said. That is meant to test every seat on the ballot to make sure the machine is counting it accurately.

Once the public testing is over, all of the results on the machines are cleared to zero and then the machines are sealed. They will not be reopened until Election Day, when officials will check again that the machines have not been unsealed, she said.

The ballot counting process then begins, with two specially trained people working together, she said.

“In elections, it’s always a big paper trail, checks and balances,” she said. “And even after the election is over, there are multiple audits at multiple levels of government.”

Milwaukee absentee ballot results will be tallied at the Baird Center on Election Day

The results of the city’s absentee ballots will be tallied at the Baird Center in downtown Milwaukee on Election Day.

Once all the absentee ballots are counted, a second lengthy process begins.

Election Commission staff must export the results from each of the 13 machines that count the absentee votes onto thumb drives, which are then secured in a bag and taken by a bipartisan team to the Milwaukee County Courthouse in a police vehicle, Gutiérrez said. There, they are uploaded to the county’s election-night website, a process that also takes time.

In Wisconsin, the election process is open to the public to observe.

Milwaukee is likely to be one of the last, if not the last, to report its absentee ballot results.

Gutiérrez expects those results to be reported after midnight on Nov. 6.

Alison Dirr can be reached at adirr@jrn.com.

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Milwaukee, WI

MPS layoffs plan draws pushback as district works to close $46M gap

Published

10 hours ago

March 26, 2026

Press Room

MPS layoffs plan draws pushback as district works to close M gap

MPS cuts face backlash

Milwaukee Public Schools plans about 200 layoffs to close a $46 million budget gap, but union leaders say cuts could impact student safety while district leaders say no classroom teachers will be eliminated.

MILWAUKEE – Milwaukee Public Schools is planning to cut roughly 200 positions next school year as the district works to close a multi-million-dollar budget gap — but there’s disagreement over which roles will be impacted.

What we know:

District leaders say the goal is to close a roughly $46 million shortfall, prompting changes that Superintendent Brenda Cassellius says are necessary.

Milwaukee Public Schools said about 201 staff members will be impacted. District leaders say no classroom teachers, counselors or social workers will be cut — something the teachers’ union disputes.

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The reductions stem from a previously approved plan to eliminate about 260 non-classroom roles. The final number dropped after retirements and existing vacancies. The Milwaukee Board of School Directors approved that plan on March 9.

What they’re saying:

“We have a $50 million deficit, we are for sure not going to be able to do business the same way that we’ve been able to do business,” Cassellius said. “Change is just hard. It’s just hard. And every single one of our employees is so important.”

But some educators say the cuts go too far.

“MTEA is setting up a distress signal. We are talking about our teachers, art teachers, music teachers, physical education teachers, counselors — things that the voters of referendum of Milwaukee actually voted for,” said Ingrid Walker-Henry, president of the Milwaukee Teachers’ Education Association. “Staffing is being cut to the extent that they are concerned about student safety.”

Cassellius acknowledged the uncertainty and asked school leaders for patience.

“We just have to for sure know our budget situation, where we’re at with that after these cuts are made in order to make those decisions,” she said. “So I’m asking my principals, be patient with us.”

By the numbers:

The district outlined the 201 affected positions as:

70 central office roles
62 educators with a teaching license but not assigned to one classroom
59 assistant principals

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MPS says the savings will support new class size guidelines, including:

18 students per teacher in K3
20 students per teacher in K4
22 students per teacher in K5

Milwaukee Public Schools (MPS)

District leaders say no students will be asked to leave a school to meet class size guidelines. Officials say they are working with schools that may not have space or that require larger classes based on specific programs.

What’s next:

Milwaukee Public Schools plans to present its proposed 2026–27 budget to the Milwaukee Board of School Directors in May.

The Source: Information in this post was provided by Milwaukee Public Schools and prior FOX6 coverage.

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Milwaukee, WI

Brewers finally announce cable, satellite TV channels for broadcasts

Published

22 hours ago

March 26, 2026

Press Room

Brewers finally announce cable, satellite TV channels for broadcasts

Just before the pitch clock hits zero, the Milwaukee Brewers released a rundown of channels on cable and satellite for game broadcasts, mere hours before the 1:10 p.m. CT first pitch on Opening Day, Thursday, March 26.

The club said channels include 1263 on XFinity, 670 on DirecTV, 1743 on U-Verse, and 319 or 469 on Spectrum. The broadcasts are also listed as available on streaming service Fubo.

The Brewers are pointing fans to a channel-finding tool on their web site at Brewers.com/watch, though in the moments after the announcement, the channel finder was not yet locating details for Spectrum customers for Milwaukee-area zip codes. A club spokesperson said Major League Baseball was aware of the error and the games would indeed air on Spectrum in Milwaukee.

The built-in Spectrum guide still showed Channel 308 as the “BREW” offering in Milwaukee, with Brewers Live Pregame scheduled to begin at noon CT and baseball at 1 p.m. March 26.

With the February announcement of a switchover from FanDuel Sports Wisconsin to Major League Baseball productions in 2026, MLB negotiations have gone down to the wire with the various providers around Wisconsin. Several teams covered by Main Street Sports, which operated the FanDuel brand, have been in a similar boat this offseason.

Brewers fans aren’t alone in experiencing the late-arriving channel information. Maury Brown of Forbes has been keeping track of all the late-arriving channel announcements for teams around baseball, specifically those that were covered by the Main Street Sports. As of 7 a.m. March 26, the Royals, Rays, Tigers and Braves also still hadn’t released channel listings.

Streaming customers who used the FanDuel Sports Wisconsin app in previous years can use the new Brewers.TV option to once again watch games. The opener is also one of 10 games simulcast on over-the-air channels this season, including WITI-TV (Channel 6) in Milwaukee.

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Milwaukee, WI

Chase, crash into Milwaukee library construction site; man pleads guilty

Published

1 day ago

March 25, 2026

Press Room

Chase, crash into Milwaukee library construction site; man pleads guilty

article

MILWAUKEE – A Milwaukee man pleaded guilty on Wednesday to a pursuit that ended with a crash into a library construction site.

In court:

Court records show Cameron Moore, 37, pleaded guilty to three felonies and the state dismissed two others as part of a plea deal. He’s scheduled to be sentenced in May.

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The backstory:

Sheriff’s deputies were monitoring a home near 2nd and Lloyd. They were trying to locate a man, later identified as Moore, who was wanted for burglary and fleeing/eluding.

Moore left the home and got into an SUV that afternoon. Detectives tried to pull the SUV over and, while it did briefly stop, it almost immediately took off.

Crash damages library at MLK and Locust, Milwaukee (Jan. 7, 2025)

About a mile into the chase, the SUV ran a red light and slammed into a car at the intersection of King Drive and Locust Street. It then careened into the library construction site.

Nobody in the vehicles involved in the pursuit or crash was injured, according to authorities. A construction worker inside the building reported leg pain, and he was examined and cleared at the scene.

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“120 to 140 miles per hour on the freeway, on the public roadways passing people,” Court Commissioner Katharine Kucharski said after charges were filed. “We are all very lucky that nobody is…passed in this situation.”

The Milwaukee Public Library’s new Martin Luther King Branch opened months later. At the official opening, Ald. Milele Coggs acknowledged the roadblocks along the way – including the crash.

The Source: Information in this report is from the Wisconsin Circuit Court and prior FOX6 News coverage.

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