A computer system some election clerks rely on to process in-person absentee voters had issues for a second day, slowing lines in some municipalities to a crawl.
A spokesperson for the City of Milwaukee said lines at the Zeidler Municipal Building early voting site were stretching outside the building as election officials struggled to access the WisVote computer system.
Clerks access WisVote to print a voter identification label which is affixed to the ballot envelope.
Under normal circumstances, that process takes about 30 seconds.
Watch: Long line forms for voting at Milwaukee's Zeidler Municipal Building:
The Wisconsin Election Commission confirmed a "system delay" was impacting WisVote and other state computer networks.
"The system delay is not just affecting WisVote label printing, it appears to also be affecting some non-election related state systems as well. High levels of in-person absentee voting do still appear to be compounding the issue," a spokesperson said in a statement.
"WEC and state IT personnel are currently analyzing the data we receive and we will provide further information when we learn more."
Issues on Wednesday began to appear midday, with clerks in one municipality resorting to filling out the envelope's voter data section by hand.
The WEC statement said that was an acceptable backup plan and the issue should not prevent any voter’s ability to vote in-person absentee.
Election officials blame the system lag on high turnout.
Some 97,000 people voted in-person on Tuesday, outpacing 2020 by 20,000 voters.
A WEC spokesperson had not yet responded to a request for comment on the latest reports.
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