Posted on 05/22/2012 7:55:28 AM PDT by afraidfortherepublic
MADISON — By 2 p.m., the Madison City Clerk’s Office had issued 5,825 absentee ballots, 407 of this in-person.
Clerk Maribeth Witzel-Behl had a busy day.
She wasn’t alone.
High volume absentee ballot requests were coming into elections offices statewide Monday, the first day of early voting in Wisconsin’s recall elections — a little over two weeks away.
This was a long time in coming, Witzel-Behl said.
“Ever since January, we’ve been getting calls asking about the recall election, when could they get a ballot,” she said. “Absentee requests have been coming in the entire year.”
Up until May 8, local elections officials didn’t know who was going to take on Republican Gov. Scott Walker in the state's unprecedented gubernatorial recall election.
Late last week, the Government Accountability Board, the state’s elections watchdog, certified the primary election results, in which Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett bested all Democratic opponents for a rematch of the 2010 election.
While local elections officials have long accepted requests for absentee ballots, they couldn't begin sending them out and conducting in-office voting until Monday.
The ballot requests in Madison already overshot the 5,223 absentee ballots issued for this month’s recall primaries, and nearly half of the 12,121 absentee ballots received in the 2010 November election.
Witzel-Behl predicts a heavy absentee ballot count leading up to the June 5 election, and turnout on pace or better than the 67 percent notched in 2010.
In Milwaukee, the elections office had received 8,000 early-vote applications by Friday, including military residents and others overseas.
Sue Edman, director of the Milwaukee Election Commission, said about 14,000 absentee ballots were cast in the November 2010 election.
“Every day we’re getting more and more applications,” she said.
Charlene Peterson, Appleton’s city clerk, said the office mailed out more than 1,000 ballot requests Monday, equaling the absentee ballots sent out for the primary.
“There is an increased interest, and I think part of that is due to the mailers that are out there,” Peterson said.
Other clerks, too, said their offices have received numerous absentee ballot requests from campaigns or political activists on behalf of voters.
“We’ve seen a lot of those come through our office,” said Andrea Canadeo, elections specialist for the city of Green Bay. She said the Green Bay Clerk’s Office mailed out more than 1,900 absentee ballots Monday.
Early voting has soared in the past few major elections, driven by voter courting from both major parties who have seen tactical advantages in getting the vote out before election day.
But Wisconsin’s unusual schedule in this recall election, with an early June election day, has something to do with the push to vote early.
“Obviously, school is over for some people and will be by June 5 for others, so that may affect the number of absentee ballots,” said Reid Magney, GAB spokesman.
That means a lot of Wisconsin voters will be boating or fishing or traveling — anywhere but a polling booth.
Elections workers look to clock in some extra time in the next two weeks, part of the cost of the projected $18 million for the recall primary and general elections — a ballot that includes recalled Lt. Gov. Rebecca Kleefisch, three GOP state senators and an open senate seat.
In Madison, for instance, the clerk’s office hours are extended from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. daily. The office also will be open from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday, noon until 4 p.m. Sunday, and 9 a.m. until noon on Memorial Day.
May 31 is the last day for voters to request an absentee ballot by mail. June 1 is the last day for voters to register to vote at a municipal clerk’s office, and the last day for voters to make an absentee ballot application in person.
Because you KNOW the dark side is doing exactly that... and their friends include "voters" from out of state.
Wisconsin: Absentee ballots and early voting ready
FReep Mail me if you want on, or off, this Wisconsin interest ping list.
Interest level is so high that even dead Chicago Dems have applied for absentee ballots.
In fact they vote ‘absentee’ in every election.
So what is the process for checking the legitimacy of these absentee ballots?
I wonder how many of the absentee ballots requested online are all going to the same e-mail address?.................
I wonder if Eric Holder got his absentee ballot yet.....I heard he sent James O’keffe for his ....no ID required!
Why not the Government Accountability Board is useless anyway.
They have to be previously registered and on the rolls of the municipality where they are issued. Obviously (by court order) no photo ID is required, but they must be witnessed & signed.
This is precisely how the Democratic operatives get their dead voters to vote. Having been previously registered, these patriotic Democrats get to vote in perpetuity, thankfully, because racist ID verification is so very illegal. /sarc
Not including several trunkloads of D votes in reserve, if necessary, AFTER the count.
Are the vote counters union members?
Lots of Madison college students who don't plan on being in Madison after classes end. They will likely vote absentee from Madison, vote again from their off-campus residence, and vote a third time from home.
I wonder how many of those ballots belong to legitimate WI voters, or are the thugs going to steal the election by proxy?
The vote counters are machines. The municipal representives who man and woman the polls are paid, per diem, temp workers.
Could someone tamper with the machines? I suppose it is possible.
The Scott Walker campaign and/or the Republican Party of Wisconsin have sent me at least 3 mailings of a form that allows me to reequest an absentee ballot to be mailed to my house. If that ballot does not come today, I'm going down to vote in person, since I'll be out of town for the election.
I'm afraid that that is possible. But we are watching...
I was the first to vote absentee at the clerks office in my village this am.
Hoping to vote this PM. Congratulations.
If they came in person to request an absentee ballot, why didn’t they vote when they came in? Sound really suspicious. Vote absentee, and then vote in person. Vote early...vote twice.
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