Over 69,000 Wisconsin voters return absentee ballots for May 12 Special Election

Posted: May 8, 2020 / 05:18 PM CDT / Updated: May 8, 2020 / 05:21 PM CDT

FILE – In this Nov. 6, 2018, file photo, voters cast their ballots, in Gates Mills, Ohio. An Associated Press review has found that thousands of Ohio voters were held up or stymied in their efforts to get absentee ballots by mail in 2018’s general election because of a missing or mismatched signature on their ballot application. (AP Photo/Tony Dejak, File)

MADISON, Wis. (WFRV) – The Wisconsin Elections Commission confirmed on April 8 that more than 69,000 voters in Wisconsin’s 7^th Congressional District have already returned their absentee ballots for the Special Election on May 12.

The organization announced that as of Friday morning around 110,921 absentee ballot applications were received by municipal clerks, covering all of the 21 Northern Wisconsin counties.

The municipal clerks report having sent around 107,644 ballots and receiving around an estimated 69,472 back.

Wisconsin’s chief elections official, Meagan Wolfe, is said to have urged Wisconsin voters to return their absentee ballots as soon as possible to ensure they were received by May 12.

Wolfe said, “We want everyone’s vote to count…If you are concerned the post office may not get your ballot to your clerk’s office in time, please make arrangements to drop your ballot off at your clerk’s office or at the polling place on Election Day.”

The Wisconsin Elections Commission says they are working with the State Emergency Operations Center to distribute personal protective equipment (PPE) and sanitizing supplies to all municipal clerks in the district.

The organization also adds that approximately 250 Wisconsin National Guard members will be ready to serve at polling places in districts that have municipal clerk shortages.

Wolfe said, “We normally estimate turnout by looking at recent similar elections, but in this case, there are few good comparisons available.”

The Wisconsin Elections Commission confirms that the Congressional District 7 has around 420,500 registered voters and more than 25% of these registered voters have requested absentee ballots so far.

Election officials are encouraging voters heading to the polls on Tuesday to check their polling place location at https://MyVote.wi.gov or by contacting their municipal clerk’s office.

For more information on daily absentee ballot reports, including county-by-county numbers visit, https://elections.wi.gov/publications/statistics/absentee.