MILWAUKEE—Voters in Wisconsin headed to the polls on Tuesday for the first day of early in-person voting as 17 million voters nationwide have already cast ballots in the contentious election.
The onset of in-person absentee voting has drawn campaigns to the state. Former President Barack Obama will appear with Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz in Madison on Oct. 22 in support of Vice President Kamala Harris. Sen. JD Vance (R-Ohio), the running mate of former President Donald Trump, spoke in Waukesha on Oct. 20.
As of Oct. 22, 17 million voters have already cast ballots in the 2024 election, according to the University of Florida Election Lab. Republicans are closing the gap in early voting totals. In the states that report party registration for early voting, Democrats lead Republicans by 11.3 percentage points. Around the same time in the 2020 election, Republicans were trailing by 27.6 percentage points.
In-person absentee voting is just one form of absentee voting in America’s Dairyland.
More than 590,000 absentee mail ballots had been sent out to voters across the state. Nearly 325,000 of them had been returned, according to the Wisconsin Elections Commission, as of Oct. 20,
Wisconsinites must show photo ID to cast their in-person absentee ballots.
FiveThirtyEight’s polling average for Wisconsin gives Harris a narrow edge of 0.3 points as of Oct. 21. RealClearPolling’s similar aggregator has Trump up by 0.2 points.
At the same time, in 2016 and 2022, Trump was losing in FiveThirtyEight’s Wisconsin polling average by a much greater margin—by 8 points to Hillary Clinton in 2016 and by 6.3 points to President Joe Biden in 2020. Similarly, historical averages from RealClearPolitics show Clinton leading Trump by 6.5 points and Biden leading Trump by 4.6 points on Oct. 21, 2024.
In both 2016 and 2020, the state was decided by margins of less than 1 percent.
Dollora Greene-Evans had a personal story about why she came out to the Brown Deer Village Hall to cast her in-person absentee ballot.
“It is my mother’s birthday. She’s in heaven, and I figured this is going to double the value of my vote,” she said.
Carl Evans and Dollora Greene-Evans finish the early voting process in Brown Deer, Wisc., on Oct. 22, 2024. (John Fredricks/The Epoch Times)
Her husband, Carl Evans, had a story too. He said his grandfather was one of a handful of black people registered to vote in Mississippi during the Civil Rights struggle of an earlier America.
“The sheriff came to the house one time to tell my grandfather not to vote. My grandfather saw him coming, ran out the back, jumped over the back fence to go vote,” he recalled.
“He said, ‘You vote every time, regardless—don’t let nobody stop you.”
The two support Harris.
People prepare to cast their early ballots in Brown Deer, Wisc., on Oct. 22, 2024. (John Fredricks/The Epoch Times)
Half an hour away, there was a long line to vote at the Waukesha City Hall.
David and Bruna Iljazi had come out with their young son, Anzil.
David is concerned about market stability. He worries that the economy is “a little unstable.”
Bruna and David Iljazi get ready to cast their ballots in Waukesha, Wisc., on Oct. 22, 2024. (John Fredricks/The Epoch Times)
Bruna, who with her husband works in the restaurant industry, said she moved from Albania to seek opportunity in the U.S. She believes she found it. But economic opportunity is a fragile thing.
“I’d like to save it,” she said.
The couple voted for Trump.
Early Voting Surges in Battlegrounds
Arizona’s early in-person voting began more than a week ago, on Oct. 9. Early in-person voting in Georgia kicked off on Oct. 15. Next came Hurricane Helene-battered North Carolina on Oct. 17, followed by Nevada on Oct. 19.
Voters take to the polls in Smyrna, Ga., on Oct. 15, 2024. (John Fredricks/The Epoch Times)
Michigan is, in a limited sense, the last of those crucial states. A mandatory early in-person voting period begins Oct. 26, nine days ahead of Nov. 5, Election Day. Yet communities there are permitted to initiate early voting from on Oct. 7, 29 days ahead of Election Day.
In the state’s most populous city, Detroit, early in-person voting started Oct. 19. Harris visited the Motor City to campaign with Detroit-born musician Lizzo.
The enthusiasm among voters has been evident in Georgia, which set a new record for turnout on the first day of early in-person voting. North Carolina also clocked record numbers as early voting commenced.
Obama, Walz Rally
Former President Barack Obama and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz took to a mostly full arena in Madison on Oct. 22.They and other speakers had come out to promote the start of in-person absentee voting in the state.
“This election is happening now!” Ben Wikler, the chair of the Democratic Party of Wisconsin, told the crowd.
“West Wing” actor Bradley Whitford and other speakers, including Rep. Mark Pocan (D-Wisc.). Gov. Tony Evers, and Sen. Tammy Baldwin (D-Wisc.) made the case for the vice president.
Actor Bradley Whitford speaks in Madison, Wis., on Oct. 22, 2024. (John Fredricks/The Epoch Times)
Madison was the audience for it. Almost 76 percent of the vote in Dane County, where Madison is situated, went for Biden in 2020. As election season moves toward its early November zenith, turnout in liberal hotbeds like Madison is crucial for Democrats.
“You live in a state that is a swing state that is decided by a single point or less,” Whitford said.
“I voted yesterday,” Obama said.
Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz speaks in Madison, Wis., on Oct. 22, 2024. (John Fredricks/The Epoch Times)
Walz drew attention to the fact that Wisconsin has same-day voter registration.
Obama also defended his own record as president, arguing that market conditions under Trump were attributable to policies he had pursued as Trump’s predecessor.
“Don’t have nostalgia for what his economy was, ‘cause that was mine,” Obama told the crowd.
Former US President Barack Obama speaks in Madison, Wis., on Oct. 22, 2024. (John Fredricks/The Epoch Times)
