Wisconsin Early In-Person Voting Surges 54% as Mail Delays Push Rural Voters to the Polls
NAMAKAGON, Wis. — Mail delays are pushing rural Wisconsin voters toward early in-person voting, the nonprofit news organization Votebeat reported October 30.
In the Bayfield County town of Namakagon, population about 300, clerk Laura Bjork said voters repeatedly call in recent elections asking whether their mailed ballots arrived — and some have not arrived on time. As of October 29, 27 voters had cast in-person absentee ballots in the town, up 35 percent from the same point in 2022, while ballots returned by mail and other methods fell from 31 to 23.
The shift mirrors a statewide change: in-person absentee voting in Wisconsin has surged 54 percent compared with the same point in 2022, with more than 344,000 such ballots cast. Every county has seen an increase, 16 counties have at least doubled, and in-person voting now accounts for more than half of all returned absentee ballots, up from about 38 percent in 2022.
Votebeat, citing a ProPublica investigation, reported that Postal Service cost-cutting has worsened mail delays in rural counties, with pickups cut from twice daily to once in many communities. In Wisconsin, absentee ballots must reach election officials by 8 p.m. on Election Day to count. Election Day is November 3.
Source: GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 图：Madison August 2022 038 (Wisconsin State Capitol)。Michael Barera 摄，CC BY-SA 4.0，经 Wikimedia Commons。 / Photo: Madison August 2022 038 (Wisconsin State Capitol). By Michael Barera, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
