(WTAQ-WLUK) – With about 100,000 absentee ballots not returned as of Monday morning, the state’s top election official reminded voters those ballots must be delivered to clerks by 8 p.m. Tuesday.
Tuesday is primary election day in Wisconsin. There are two state Constitutional amendments on the ballot. In Northeast Wisconsin, many voters have primaries for the 8th Congressional race Republican primary. All polls are open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. Identification is required to vote. If you are not registered, you can do so at the polling place.
Meagan Wolf, administrator of the Wisconsin Elections Commission said 387,280 absentee ballots were requested, and 288,021 had been turned in as of Monday morning.
It’s too late to put those ballots in the mail for them to arrive before the polls close at 8 p.m. Tuesday, so Wolf encouraged people to drop them off with at their clerk’s office or, where applicable, the local central count. In some communities, drop boxes may also be available. If you are unclear about where to deliver the ballot, contact your clerk, Wolf said.
A recent Wisconsin Supreme Court decision again allowed – but did not mandate – clerks to use drop boxes. Wolf did not have a figure for how many communities are using them.
Wolf said turnout for this primary varies, but she expected turnout out to be in high-teens or mid-20% range.
In the 8th Congressional District, there are two seats being filled: the remainder of former Rep. Mike Gallagher’s term (from mid-November to early January), and then the usual two-year term starting in January. Wolf said Monday she has not heard of issues of voter confusion with the two items on the ballot.
