How Many People Have Already Voted In Wisconsin?
Wisconsin — like most of the country — has seen a surge in early voting, both in person and absentee, as residents sought to cast their votes while also keeping themselves safe during the coronavirus pandemic.
As of early Tuesday morning on Election Day, over 1.8 million registered voters had already voted in Wisconsin, according to data from the U.S. Elections Project. Of those votes, the vast majority were mail-in ballots (1,241,690) and the rest (644,843) were votes cast early in person.
As a percentage of the total 2016 vote, 63.4 percent of voters have cast their ballots in Wisconsin. While that's not as high as other battleground states like Florida and Texas, that's till higher than neighboring Michigan and Minnesota.
While just about 6 percent of voters in Wisconsin chose to vote by mail in previous elections, that number is now between 60-80 percent, the Wisconsin Election Commission estimates.
According to the U.S. Elections Project, over 1.4 million voters requested mail-in ballots in Wisconsin. The return rate on ballots was 87.4 percent, meaning just under 13 percent of mail-in ballots are yet to be returned.
A Supreme Court ruling in the week before the election scrapped the state's extension for receiving mail-in ballots up to six days after the election. All mail-in ballots must be received by 8 p.m. in order to be counted. The ruling prompted officials to urge voters to hand deliver their ballots rather than rely on the United States Postal Service.
In Wisconsin, voters have a few options for dropping off their mail-in ballots on Election Day:
1. Drop off your ballot at your designated polling place by 8 p.m. If your municipality counts absentee ballots at a central count facility, the ballot will have instructions on where it can be dropped off instead of the polling place. You can find your assigned polling place here.
2. You can also drop off your ballot at a secure absentee ballot drop box. You can search for a drop box in your community here. The Wisconsin Elections Commission warns voters to check for additional information like whether there is a final pick up time for the drop boxes. Anyone who is unsure should bring the ballot to their polling place. You can also search this tool developed by Wisconsin Watch to find a drop-off location.
3. Vote in person instead. If a voter didn't get their absentee ballot or did not use their absentee ballot, they can vote at their designated polling place instead. Just remember that officials are recommending that voters wear face covering or masks at the polls even though they are not required.
Polls in Wisconsin are open until 8 p.m.
This article originally appeared on the Milwaukee Patch
