MILWAUKEE — Clerks and election officials across the state are preparing for Tuesday’s Presidential Election. According to the Wisconsin Elections Commission, the high number of absentee ballots this cycle could delay the results.
The commission reports that more than 1.8 million absentee ballots have been sent out across Wisconsin. Even though many of them have been filled out by voters and returned to local municipalities, they can’t be counted until 7 a.m. on election day. State law says all absentee ballots must be counted before results can be released.
The sheer number of absentee ballots will slow the results in many counties. Milwaukee County will likely have somewhere near 180,000 absentee ballots to count, and the city says their final results may not be available until 3 a.m. on Wednesday.
Wisconsin Elections Commission representative Reid Magney says “just because it takes longer to count the ballots, it doesn’t mean that something is wrong. It means that your election officials are taking the time to make sure that every legitimate ballot counts, and that it is counted accurately. And there is no rushing that process.”
Once the ballots counts are final, counties must certify them by November 17th. Statewide results must be certified by December 1st.