WEC says Wisconsin is election ready as absentee voting demand falls
MADISON, Wis. (CBS 58) -- Wisconsin election officials say they are ready for the November general election. On Tuesday, the administrator shared details on how many people are expected to vote and how they're preparing.
The Wisconsin Elections Commission (WEC) says more than 2.6 million people are expected to vote in the upcoming general election Nov. 3, but according to election officials, fewer people will be voting by mail.
‘While I don’t have it, you know, broken out for each of the counties, so there may be outliers, the statewide data does support the fact that there are fewer people requesting a by-mail ballot for this election than some of the more recent general elections,” Meagan Wolfe, administrator of the Wisconsin Elections Commission, said.
Meagan Wolfe
That sentiment is being echoed across the state. In Madison, absentee ballot requests are lower this year compared to November 2022. That year, they mailed 35,000 absentee ballots and had around 31,700 returned to them. To date, the Madison clerk says they have issued 24,000 and about 9,000 have been returned to their office.
“There is a lack of confidence in the postal service processing those ballots and getting them to the clerks, and we saw that in August and April when we were seeing far more ballots arrive afterwards,” Scott McDonell, the Dane County clerk, said.
That’s why WEC is urging voters to return their ballot at least two weeks ahead of Election Day. If your ballot isn’t received by 8 o’clock on Election Day, it won't be counted. Central count in Milwaukee saw a major hiccup during the primary election. An election staffer pressed the wrong button on five out of nine tabulator memory sticks, exporting audit logs instead of election results. It's an issue that the commission and the administrator feel won’t happen again.
“They have been able to submit to their commission, their plan for how they are going to ensure that that mistake doesn’t happen again and how they are going to ensure that the poll workers and everyone working at central count is adequately trained, as well,” Wolfe said. “So yes, I do feel like they have a plan, and the commission, as part of their determination of that complaint, also agreed.”
WEC says they don’t expect any federal interference or changes. They say federal laws remain unchanged from the last cycle. Wolfe says most poll workers and clerks are used to poll watchers, however if voters feel intimidated, they should report it to their chief inspector at their polling location. Observers must follow the rules laid out on the WEC website.
The Wisconsin DOJ also laid out what is considered voter intimidation. Some examples include verbal threats, confronting voters or election officials while wearing military-style or official-looking uniforms, brandishing or displaying a firearm in an intimidating way near a polling place, and engaging in disorderly behavior in or near a polling place. You can read more information on voter intimidation by clicking here.