GREEN BAY, WI—(WGBW & WISS)—The Wisconsin Elections Commission and election officials throughout Wisconsin are preparing for the presidential and general elections on November 5th.

According to Meagan Wolfe, the Administrator for the Wisconsin Elections Commission and the state’s Chief Elections official, almost a million people in Wisconsin have already voted via absentee ballots and early in-person voting.

Wolfe said 645,190 mail-in absentee ballots were requested. 537,645 of those ballots have been returned so far. And a total of 801,083 absentee ballots have been cast by voters. She said as of the morning of 11/1/24, the state has seen a 48 percent in crease in absentee voting over 2020.

Non-citizen voting

In a virtual press call with reporters throughout the state, Wolfe said that inaccurate information has been distributed about non-citizens voting in the elections.

“Let me be clear. Under no circumstances are non-citizens allowed to vote in the state of Wisconsin. Ever! In order to vote in Wisconsin, voters must certify on their voter registration form that they are a U.S. citizen,” Wolfe said. “Further, most Wisconsinites present a photo ID to vote, and that can include something like a Wisconsin driver’s license or ID card, a U.S. passport, a military ID, a certificate of naturalization, documents that require the voter to provide legal status documentation to the government entity who issues them.”

Showing candidate support at the polls

When people are passionate about their candidate they tend to wear that passion via garb; a t-shirt, hat, and/or campaign buttons. Wolfe says that is considered electioneering and is NOT allowed at the polling place.

“If somebody does come in with some type of political hat or shirt or other display of a position on the ballot, they’re going to be asked to not come in with that on and to potentially change it,” said Wolfe. “That is prohibited under Wisconsin law. So you should not be coming in wearing apparel or displays that advocate for a position or a candidate on the ballot.”

Recount possibility

Wolfe said Wisconsin sees very tight margins in its elections, which means there is a very real possibility that a recount will be required.

“In the state of Wisconsin, we typically see some pretty close margins,” Wolfe said. “I believe of the last six presidential elections, four of those have been within the recount margin. The recount margin is 1 percent or less between the top two vote-getters. So that’s a very, very, tight margin.”

However, she added that the WEC is prepared for the possibility of a recount.

“They (The WEC) are really looking to establish all of those fine points of how a recount would operate ahead of the election, so that if we do find ourselves with a contest where there’s a recount, that we’re ready. We’re prepared. And that everybody knows exactly how it’s going to proceed,” Wolfe said.

More election information

The polls will be open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Tuesday, November 5th. Voters must be in line to vote before 8 p.m.

“ If somebody shows up at 8:01, they’re not going to be able to get in line to vote,” she said. “In most polling places, what they’re going to do in the best practices, is they’re going to send one of their election inspectors out to mark the line at eight o’clock.”

Visit Civicmedia.us/vote to find all the information you need on voting day, from your polling location to documents you need to bring to the polls.

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