Some Milwaukee voting locations opened late due to 'system updates' at MPS

MILWAUKEE (CBS 58) -- Voting is underway in Wisconsin, though some polling locations opened late on Tuesday. One of those locations included an old school at 66th & Melvina on Milwaukee's northwest side. Election officials say the delayed openings were because of an overnight system update which impacted building access. Because of this, some MPS buildings were opened later than the 7 am start time.

Election officials say the "technical issues" were "brief" with the latest location opening around 7:40 am. That location was the Environmental Sciences school located at 66th & Melvina.

A handful of residents didn't wait however, leaving discouraged even though they came in early to vote. That included Ms. Liska who says she's lived in the area for 25 years. She says this voting location is often slow, but was upset when she got here around 7:15, and nothing was set up.

"It was a mess and discouraging because they want everyone to vote - all this money’s out for voting, 'vote, vote, vote, vote', and they didn’t have it set up properly. So, we went home," she said.

Paulina Gutierrez, Milwaukee Election Commission's Executive Director, said the impact was "minimal" and they contacted the Wisconsin Election Commission immediately. She's not sure if there will be any consequences. MPS' Chief Communications Officer Tony Tagliavia said, "we take responsibility for the access issue that happened at a few of the sites this morning, we apologize for that to any voter affected. We take serving as election sites really seriously. This is an important function of our schools being part of a working democracy."

Liska said she was the one who called the Wisconsin Election Commission about the school not being prepared at 7 am, later getting a call from the Executive Director, Paulina Gutierrez who explained the issue. "[She] said 'oh she’s sorry there was a mix up - 'this happened, that happened, this happened.' Ok, well that's all well and fine, but again you’re pushing and pushing everybody to come out and vote, and this happens. And around this area there’s a lot of older people so you get discouraged and you get upset," she continued.

She did come back to vote later in the morning, but she says one of the neighbors she came with early this morning will not be voting anymore, because she was mad at the situation.

Full statement from election officials:

The Milwaukee Election Commission (MEC) and Milwaukee Public Schools (MPS) is aware of several of polling locations located inside MPS buildings that opened later than the required 7:00 a.m. start time this morning. The delays were brief, with the latest location opening around 7:40 a.m.The delayed openings stemmed from an overnight building access system update within MPS that unintentionally restricted early access to some school buildings. The issue was resolved quickly.Election staff worked with school personnel to ensure the sites opened as quickly as possible. Based on current information, a small number of voters were impacted. Polls are open until 8:00pm and voters can cast their ballot as long as they’re in line by 8pm.All polling places are operating normally and will remain open until 8:00pm as required by state law.