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With the Presidential Election fast approaching, it's a good idea to know where you need to go to vote.

Fortunately, the City of Milwaukee's Election Commission has made finding your polling location an easy thing to do. All you need to do is enter your City of Milwaukee address and it will tell you where you will be voting.

Not only will you get information on your polling location, but you will also get information on your elected officials on city, county, state and even federal levels.

So just check out the Election Commission Voting Location & Representatives Inquiry to find out where you will be voting and who your elected officials are.

From the Ready Reference Quick Fact File:

The First African American Voter in Wisconsin

Joe Oliver was the first African American to vote in Wisconsin. Oliver came to Milwaukee in 1835 and earned his living as a cook. Arriving on the schooner Cincinnati (owned by Milwaukee co-founder Solomon Juneau), Oliver was invited by Juneau to vote in the first Milwaukee city election. Although voting was limited to white males over the age of 21, Joe Oliver cast a legal ballot on September 19, 1835. Although most Wisconsin residents disapproved of slavery, the right of black citizens to vote was widely disputed in the years that followed. In 1849, a majority of Wisconsin voters approved black suffrage but voting rights were consistently denied to African Americans due to legal disputes over what constituted "a majority." With the encouragement of abolitionist Sherman Booth, Ezekiel Gillespie, a leader in Milwaukee's black community, attempted to register to vote in 1865 and was refused. Gillespie took the election inspectors to court, working with attorney Byron Paine. Gillespie's case went quickly to the state Supreme Court which in 1866 voted unanimously in favor of Gillespie and secured the right of African-Americans to vote.

There are good reasons why Milwaukee voters should care about today's non-partisan primary election. There's a changing Milwaukee School Board, the office of State Superintendent of Public Instruction (Elizabeth Burmaster is not seeking re-election), and a vacant Circuit Court seat.

Check out the Election Commission Voting Location & Representatives Inquiry to find out where you will be voting and who your elected officials are. And you can still register to vote at your polling location--just bring in an ID and a piece of mail with your current address.

Confused about the issues or the candidates? Go to the League of Women Voters page or look at other sites on the library's recommended government links page to get informed.