Interest in early voting has surged in Wisconsin ahead of the April 1 election compared to the same point two years ago, according to the latest update from the state Elections Commission.
As of Tuesday, voters have requested 539,089 absentee ballots, according to information clerks have reported to the Elections Commission. That’s up nearly 32% compared to the same point two years ago, when turnout eventually hit 1.8 million in the Supreme Court race.
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After one week of early, in-person voting, the number of absentee ballots returned is also up significantly. Clerks have reported 345,536 cast, compared to 233,078 at this point in 2023. That’s an increase of 48%.
Some of the counties with the highest increase in absentee ballot requests compared to the same point in 2023 are typically GOP areas, including:
- Florence County, up 145 ballots requested, or 63%
- Washington County, up 6,516, or 60%
- Walworth County, up 3,262, or 48.4%
- Waukesha County, up 18,116, or 42.7%
The state GOP started placing a heavy emphasis on early voting in 2024, helping push up the reliance on that option in red areas of the state.
Meanwhile, voters in reliably blue Dane County have requested 20,070 more absentee ballots than they had at this point two years ago, an increase of 31.5%. In Milwaukee County, voters have requested 88,961 absentee ballots. That’s up 19,033, or 27.2%.
The raw numbers, though, don’t detail whether the surge in absentee voting is largely due to reliable spring voters using the option rather than showing up in person or if it’s those who typically only turn out for fall races.
