Early voting hits midterm record in Wisconsin

MADISON - Nearly 380,000 Wisconsinites have voted early this fall — a record number for a midterm election that is sure to rise as early voting continues.

About 378,000 have voted early so far, according to the Wisconsin Elections Commission. In the 2014 midterms, just over 374,000 people voted early.

Early voting hours are determined locally but will continue in most jurisdictions through at least Friday. In Milwaukee and Madison, early voting is available through Sunday at multiple locations.

While at a historic high for a midterm election, early voting is nowhere near the level of a presidential election. In 2016, more than 819,000 people voted early.

Milwaukee County led the state in early voting with nearly 60,000 ballots cast.

In the Milwaukee metropolitan area, Ozaukee and Washington counties each had about 11,500 early ballots cast as of Wednesday, according to the Elections Commission.

One reason early voting is on the rise is because a federal judge in 2016 struck down restrictions on the practice that Republican lawmakers and GOP Gov. Scott Walker put in place.

That ruling by U.S. District Judge James Peterson also allowed local governments for the first time to offer early voting at multiple locations, not just the clerk’s office. Madison and Milwaukee — the state’s Democratic strongholds — responded by offering early voting at libraries, college campuses and other locations.

Republican Attorney General Brad Schimel has appealed the court decision. The lawsuit — which also challenged a host of other election laws — was brought by liberal groups represented by Josh Kaul, a Democrat now challenging Schimel in the race for attorney general.

The appeal has been stuck in limbo for 19 months. The 7th Circuit Court of Appeals is not expected to rule on it until sometime after Tuesday’s election, meaning the expanded early voting rules are likely to stay in place for this election.

In recent weeks, both sides have been urging their supporters to vote early, either in person or by mail.

Topping the ticket this year are the governor’s race, in which Walker faces state schools Superintendent Tony Evers, and the U.S. Senate race, in which incumbent Democrat Tammy Baldwin is going up against state Sen. Leah Vukmir (R-Brookfield).

In the city of Milwaukee, nearly 30,000 people have voted early, compared with about 23,000 in 2014. This year, nearly 22,000 of the early ballots have been cast in person, with the rest being cast by mail, according to Neil Albrecht, executive director of the Milwaukee Election Commission.