Voter turnout is heavy across Wisconsin, including the conservative Milwaukee suburb of Brookfield. A line of voters snaked outside Dixon Elementary School before the doors opened at 7 a.m.
Jeff Freisleben, one of the first voters to cast his ballot, said he voted for Gov. Scott Walker.
“I like that he went into office and did what he said he would do,” Freisleben said. “Tom Barrett doesn’t have a plan and can’t answer the questions when asked.”
Milwaukee Calls in Extra Poll Workers for Recall Election
Heavy turnout in Milwaukee led the city Election Commission to call out the reserves Tuesday.
The backup workers were needed to handle long lines, partly because a significant number of new voters were registering at the polls, Edman said.
“We knew things would be busy, but we didn’t know how busy,” Edman said.
Suburban Milwaukee Voters Flock to the Polls in Historic Recall Election
US Department of Justice Will Monitor Wisconsin on Tuesday
A team of special agents from the Division of Criminal Investigation and assistant attorney generals will head to Wisconsin on Tuesday to ensure make sure everyone complies with the 1965 Voting Rights Act, which outlaws discrimination in the election process based on race, color or membership in a minority language group.
More Than 206,000 Absentee Ballots Issued as of Noon Monday
The Government Accountability Board has released an update on the number of absentee ballots issued for the June 5 recall election. As of noon Monday, a total of 206,128 were issued by Wisconsin’s election officials who use the Statewide Voter Registration System. That’s 33 percent more than the number of absentee ballots cast in the May 8 recall primary election.
206,000 WI Residents Request Absentee Ballots for the Recall
MADISON, WI – More than 206,000 Wisconsin residents have already requested absentee ballots or voted absentee in the clerk’s office for the June 5 recall election, according to the Government Accountability Board.
As of noon today, at least 206,128 absentee ballots had been issued by Wisconsin’s local election officials who track them using the Statewide Voter Registration System (SVRS). Just over one-third of municipalities track absentee ballots in SVRS, including all the state’s large cities.
The G.A.B. also released detailed, county-by-county numbers today, which are attached to this news release. Individual municipal numbers are not available from the G.A.B.
To give these numbers some context, a total of 68,000 absentee ballots were tracked in SVRS for the May 8 recall primary, which had an unofficial, overall turnout of 29.5 percent. On May 23, there were approximately 90,000 ballots tracked; on May 25 there were 113,558 ballots tracked; on May 29 there were 130,391 ballots tracked; on May 31, there were 164,848 ballots tracked; on June 1, there were 182,228 ballots tracked.
These numbers are likely to continue changing throughout the week as clerks enter data into the system.The G.A.B. will continue to provide updated absentee ballot numbers daily next week as clerks enter them into the system.
As many as 75 percent of all absentee ballots are typically cast in the clerk’s office, with the remainder being delivered by mail.
In-person absentee voting in the clerk’s office ended Friday, June 1. The deadline for most absentee voters to request ballots to be sent to them has also passed. Sequestered jurors and people who are hospitalized can still request ballots until 5 p.m. on Election Day. Mailed absentee ballots must be postmarked by Election Day, and must be received by the clerk by 4 p.m. the Friday after the election.
Federal Observers Dispatched for Recall Voting in Milwaukee
MILWAUKEE — The U.S. Department of Justice plans to the recall elections in Wisconsin on Tuesday, and will dispatch a team of federal observers to the city of Milwaukee.
The observers will be ensuring that the city complies with the 1965 Voting Rights Act, which prohibits discrimination in the electoral process on the basis of race, color or membership in a minority language group.
There are six recall elections taking place on June 5 for governor, lieutenant governor and six state senate races.
Wisconsin’s Department of Justice is also a team of assistant attorneys general and special agents from the Division of Criminal Investigation to 12 cities in an effort to prevent voter fraud.
“The June recall election is a significant event in our state’s history,” said state Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen (R). “The people of Wisconsin need to have confidence that their rights are being protected and the laws are being followed.”
The Appleton Post Crescent notes that voter fraud is “practically non-existent” in Wisconsin. In 2008, for example, the state conducted an investigation into complaints of voter fraud. Just 20 people were charged out of almost 3 million votes cast in the election.
The Wisconsin state election board is predicting on Tuesday. Between 60 and 65 percent of voters are expected to cast a ballot, which would put turnout higher than in the 2010 elections but lower than 2008.
If I were the president, I wouldn’t want to be attached to a loss. Tom Barrett is polling down and he doesn’t have an economic development plan and he doesn’t have a budget plan. That does not bode well for his candidacy and it also doesn’t bode well for the president if he comes into Wisconsin and then doesn’t have the potency in order to lift Tom Barrett to a win.
Wisconsin Lt. Gov. Rebecca Kleefisch • Suggesting that Obama has stayed out of the Scott Walker recall race because he thinks Tom Barrett’s going to lose. It’s not like Kleefisch doesn’t have a biased opinion here or anything — she’s also facing a recall. But that said, it is a tad conspicuous that Obama has stayed out of the campaign while Bill Clinton has jumped in with both feet. But in the end, we don’t know what’s actually going to happen until tomorrow. We’ll be watching closely. (via shortformblog)(via shortformblog)
Ology Politics: Poll Tightens Ahead of Wisconsin Recall, But It May Be Too Late
The fact that Democrats have already started the blame game over Tom Barrett’s likely loss tomorrow in Wisconsin is not a good sign for either Tom Barrett or the Democratic operation in general, as it shows an organization lackadaisical and anemic about the highest profile election of…
