Absentee ballot requests exceed 1 million, according to Wisconsin Elections Commission

Stephen Cohn by Stephen Cohn

MADISON, Wis. — With the April 7 elections in Wisconsin less than a week away, the Wisconsin Elections Commission said over 1 million absentee ballots have been requested.

According to a news release, 1,053,556 absentee applications have been received by Wisconsin as of Wednesday morning.

The release said 1,028,734 ballots have been sent, while 387,833 have been returned.

The WEC said those numbers do not include requests not yet entered into the state system by clerks, meaning the number of requests may be higher.

The deadline for registered voters to request absentee ballots to be mailed is 5 p.m. Thursday, but the WEC said it urges people to register as soon as possible to allow for delays in mailing. Absentee ballots can be requested at at MyVote Wisconsin. Voters can also request absentee ballots by mailing, emailing or faxing their municipal clerk’s office.

Gov. Evers and other officials have encouraged absentee voting ahead of the election in order to reduce crowds at polling places and make social distancing more feasible.

COPYRIGHT 2020 BY CHANNEL 3000. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. THIS MATERIAL MAY NOT BE PUBLISHED, BROADCAST, REWRITTEN OR REDISTRIBUTED.