(WTAQ-WLUK) — Tuesday is Election Day and municipal clerks are doing everything they can to prepare.
Many people have already voted absentee, which means clerks have a lot to balance to ensure the day goes smoothly.
In Appleton, of the 5,300 absentee ballots mailed out, there’s been a 78% return rate.
Additionally, about 3,400 people have come through for in-person absentee voting.
That means come Tuesday, Appleton poll workers will have to process nearly 8,000 absentee ballots, along with everyone voting on Election Day.
“We do our best to make sure that we’re processing absentee ballots throughout the day, as well as helping voters and making sure there’s a good balance between doing the two, so that way at the end of the night you’re not left with all of your absentee ballots to process,” Appleton City Clerk Amy Molitor said.
Molitor said it’s a similar amount of absentee ballots as the 2022 gubernatorial race.
This election, she has at least 200 poll workers.
While it’s a lot of ballots to keep track of between 60 different wards, Molitor is confident this won’t delay election results.
“It’s still a ballot that we have to handle, open, check in, and then process through the tabulator. So from a time perspective, it’s about the same,” Molitor said.
Absentee voting in the Badger State is up nearly 7% compared to this time four years ago, according to the Wisconsin Elections Commission.
If you haven’t returned your absentee ballot yet, clerks suggest to not put it in the mail.
In April, hundreds of ballots arrived from USPS too late and couldn’t be counted.
“I would encourage you, even at this point, if you can, use the drop box outside City Hall or bring it into the clerk’s office, just to make sure that there is no delay with mail processing,” Green Bay City Clerk Stacy Menke said.
Prior to the spring election and the August primary, the City of Green Bay mistakenly sent out hundreds of duplicate ballots to voters.
Menke is confident similar issues won’t happen again and says voters can have trust in the election.
“We do feel secure about it. We feel confident about it and I understand some of that’s just going to take time with the voters to be reassured in our process,” Menke said.
In person absentee voting ends Friday.
All ballots must be returned to your clerk by 8 p.m. on Nov. 3.
Follow this link to see what will be on your ballot.
