The state reported that more than 292,000 ballots had been cast three days after in-person absentee voting started.
Wisconsin has followed a trend across battleground states, posting much higher in-person absentee voting this year than in 2020.
Three days after in-person absentee voting started on Oct. 22, the Wisconsin Elections Commission (WEC) reported that 292,702 absentee ballots had been cast that way. The equivalent period during 2020 saw just 209,665 such ballots, meaning this year saw a 39 percent surge.
“The rate of in-person absentee appears to be at a higher rate than previous elections,” said Meagan Wolfe, WEC’s administrator and the top authority in Wisconsin’s elections.
“Of course, it’s possible that the pace may slow in the days ahead, but the first three days of in-person absentee voting were exceedingly high.”
Wisconsin’s in-person absentee voting differs from other forms of early voting. In Georgia, for example, voters can go to early voting locations to cast ballots as much as they would on Election Day.
In Wisconsin, by contrast, voters can be issued their absentee ballots in person by officials at the clerk’s office or an alternate site. They then complete the absentee ballot and submit it on-site.
In-person absentee voting ends on Nov. 3, the Sunday prior to Election Day, Nov. 5.
The availability of in-person absentee voting varies across jurisdictions. In some smaller communities—for instance, Lake Mills—people have to make appointments with the clerk to schedule it. By contrast, in Wisconsin’s capital city, Madison, there are dozens of sites where the state’s version of early voting is available during the weeks ahead of Election Day.
Multiple battleground states, including North Carolina and Georgia, have surpassed previous records for early voting.
Additionally, the numbers so far suggest Republicans may be on the cusp of a strong performance in many of those crucial jurisdictions in either or both mail-in voting and in-person early voting.
Voters registered with the GOP had returned 42 percent of ballots in Arizona, significantly higher than the 36 percent from registered Democrats in that state, according to data from the University of Florida’s Election Lab.
Registered Republicans also led in early ballots out of North Carolina, and in Pennsylvania, mail-in ballot numbers from Republicans were up from the comparable period in 2020.
Nevada is another strong point for Republicans, fueled by high in-person early voting turnout—52 percent of the total early voting turnout there, compared to 27 percent from Democrats and 21.2 percent from voters lacking a partisan affiliation.
“It’s becoming more clear with each passing day that Republicans’ greatest strength in turnout resides in the Sun Belt so far,” analyst Michael Pruser of Decision Desk HQ wrote on X in response to recent numbers from Nevada.
Voters aren’t registered by party in Wisconsin.