Voting rights activists and others gather at the Midtown Center in Milwaukee on the first day of early voting in July 2022. (Photo | Isiah Holmes)
The first day of in-person early voting in Wisconsin saw 97,436 people cast ballots for the Nov. 5 election. So many people voted on Tuesday that it caused a slowdown of the state election software system, leading to long lines in some places.
The number of ballots cast on the opening day of early voting far surpassed other recent elections. In the 2022 midterm election, which had gubernatorial and U.S. Senate races on the ballot, 33,644 people cast ballots on the first day of early voting. In the 2020 presidential election 79,774 people showed up on the first day of early voting.
Despite Tuesday’s high turnout, the popularity of absentee voting in general still lags behind the 2020 presidential election when the COVID-19 pandemic pushed many voters to vote remotely.
After more than four years of Republicans and Donald Trump attacking the voting system and making accusations that any voting methods other than going to the polls on Election Day are vulnerable to fraud, the GOP nonetheless encouraged Republicans this year to vote early.
Democrats have also been encouraging people to vote early. On Wednesday, the Democratic National Committee announced an ad campaign directed at students on 30 college campuses across the country, including UW-Madison, touting early voting. The city of Madison has six early voting locations across the campuses of UW-Madison, Edgewood College and Madison College.
The traditionally Republican-voting Waukesha County had 11,397 people cast their ballots on Tuesday. Despite its status as a GOP stronghold, the county’s leftward drift has played a major role in Democratic wins in statewide elections in recent years.
Dane and Milwaukee counties, the biggest Democratic areas in Wisconsin, saw the most early votes on Tuesday, with 11,862 Dane County residents casting their ballots and 12,282 Milwaukee County voters casting theirs.
In a news release on Tuesday afternoon, the Wisconsin Elections Commission (WEC) said the higher than expected turnout for the first day of early voting used up the capacity of the state’s WisVote system, which some municipal clerks use to print a label that is placed on the outside of in-person absentee certificate envelopes.
“Today’s system lag was purely related to demands on the WisVote system due to high turnout,” the release stated. “This should not prevent any voter’s ability to vote in-person absentee today. WEC staff worked quickly to increase system capacity to ensure that clerks can continue to facilitate in-person absentee voting efficiently.”
WEC Chair Ann Jacobs said that the agency has worked with the state’s Department of Enterprise Technology to boost the capacity of the WisVote system.
“So many of you voted that you overloaded our computer systems! Amazing! We worked with Dept. of Enterprise Technology and have created more server space so all should be running smoothly now,” she wrote. “We apologize for underestimating the incredible enthusiasm you all have for voting. This is unheard of turnout for the first day of in-person absentee voting!! All is well in our WisVote system and you should be able to vote without a problem.”
Early in-person absentee voting is open from now until the Saturday before the election. Hours and locations are set by local municipal clerks. Voters can find how to vote early in their communities at MyVote.WI.Gov
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