Election Day 2020 In Wisconsin: Presidential Race, What To Know

Wisconsinites — like Americans across the nation — have already voted in record numbers in the days preceding Tuesday, making Nov.3 a culmination of days of early and mail-in voting rather than a traditional Election Day when most of the state’s voters would head to the polls on a single day. The coronavirus pandemic pushed the electorate to cast their ballots early and legal challenges surrounding mailed ballots ended with a Supreme Court ruling that sided with Republicans, requiring all mail-in ballots to be received by 8 p.m. on Tuesday in order to be counted.

In the Badger state, as of Monday morning, over 1.8 million voters have cast their ballots early, according to the U.S. Elections Project. With the Supreme Court ruling, officials urged voters to hand-deliver their ballots so they are received by the deadline.

Polls open Tuesday at 7 a.m. across Wisconsin and close at 8 p.m. You can find your local polling place, view your sample ballot for Tuesday or track your absentee ballot via MyVoteWisconsin. You can also use the website to find a secure drop off site for your absentee ballot since election officials do not recommend mailing ballots at this point. You can also search this tool developed by Wisconsin Watch to find a drop-off location.

Voters also have the option of voting in-person even if they have already requested and received an absentee ballot, so long as they have not already submitted their absentee ballot.

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Voters in Wisconsin have the option to register to vote on Election Day at their polling place. And another reminder that absentee ballots need to be received by mail or delivered by 8 p.m. on Tuesday. Voters can also return their ballots to their polling place by 8 p.m. Tuesday unless they live in a municipality that uses a central count facility for absentee ballots. In that case, the ballots will have instructions for voters on where they can be dropped off or they can contact their municipal clerk for that information. (See a list of municipalities that use central count facilities here to find a drop-off location.)

Wisconsin also has voter ID laws that need voters should be aware of.

The election also comes amid the backdrop of the coronavirus pandemic, a key issue in the presidential race as the state sees yet another surge in illnesses. And officials recommend that voters wear face coverings or masks to the polls even though they are not required.

The state’s 10 electoral college votes are critical in deciding whether President Donald Trump wins a second term in the White House or if Democratic challenger and former Vice President Joe Biden can ascend to the presidency.

The latest polling average from RealClearPolitics shows Biden up by 6.6 points in Wisconsin, a state that Trump won narrowly in 2016 over Hillary Clinton, becoming the first Republican to win it since Ronald Reagan in 1984. Both Biden and Trump hit the campaign trail hard in Wisconsin in the final weeks of the campaign, with Biden making stops in Milwaukee and Trump holding events in the week heading into the election with a final campaign rally in Kenosha on Monday. The state is critical to each candidate's path to 270 electoral college votes.

Patch will be bringing you live results for the presidential race in Wisconsin. Check back here when polls close for links to our live updating results from election night.

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Election night results in Wisconsin may not be available until the early morning hours on Wednesday since clerks are not permitted to count ballots received via mail prior to Election Day. Historically, some 6 percent of voters in Wisconsin chose to vote by mail but in recent elections that number has ballooned to anywhere between 60-80 percent, according to the Wisconsin Election Commission.

In guidance issued to election clerks across the state, the commission said that barring action by the legislature or a court order, it does not have the authority to allow ballots to be counted prior to Tuesday. The guidance also says that election workers must continue to count all ballots until the count is complete, meaning that officials will be working late into the night.

What’s more, for any jurisdictions that have municipalities which use a central count facility to process absentee ballots, they may report votes being fully counted after receiving only in-person votes from polling places, the commission warned.

The presidential race is not the only election on the ballot voters in Wisconsin will decide Tuesday. Voters will also elect their representatives to the U.S. House of Representatives, the State Senate, the State Assembly and to some county level seats.

All 99 seats in the Wisconsin State Assembly and 16 State Senate seats are up for re-election. All eight of Wisconsin’s Congressional districts are also on the ballot, with the most contested race being the election for the fifth Congressional district after longtime Rep. Jim Sensenbrenner announced he would not seek re-election.

Below are the races Patch will be updating live on election night:

1. Wisconsin Presidential Election Results
2. Waukesha County Presidential Election Results
3. Wisconsin 5th Congressional District Election Results
4. State Assembly District 97 Election Results
5. State Assembly District 14 Results

Check back here when the polls close for live updating results.