On the first day of in-person absentee voting in Wisconsin, a record-breaking 97,436 individuals cast their ballots, causing long lines and delays at polling sites. This surge in early voting was driven by the efforts of both Republicans and Democrats to encourage voters to participate ahead of Election Day.
As of Wednesday, a total of 475,460 absentee ballots had been returned, including those submitted by mail and in person. This number is significantly lower than the over 1 million ballots returned at the same point during the previous election cycle.
Despite the overwhelming turnout, the state's WisVote system, used by clerks to process ballots, experienced slowdowns due to the high volume of in-person absentee voting. The Elections Commission worked swiftly to address the issue and increase system capacity.
The commission acknowledged that the problem persisted into Wednesday and appeared to impact other state systems as well. However, they expressed confidence that the system would not encounter similar issues in the future.
Officials noted that the high turnout on the first day of in-person voting was a positive sign of civic engagement, with one commissioner describing it as 'terrific.' The Dane County clerk attributed the high number of early voters to the intense political climate in Wisconsin, a battleground state in the upcoming election.
While it was observed that more Republicans seemed to be voting early, the state's non-partisan voter registration system makes it impossible to determine the party affiliation of absentee voters. Despite the initial rush, officials anticipated that voter turnout would eventually stabilize after a few days.
In light of the delays and long lines, voters were advised to consider waiting a couple of days before casting their ballots in person to help alleviate congestion at polling locations.
