Wisconsin voters request more than 1M absentee ballots for April 7 election
MILWAUKEE -- Wisconsin voters have requested more than 1 million absentee ballots as the state prepares to hold the April 7 election, according to the Wisconsin Elections Commission on Wednesday, April 1.
As of Wednesday morning, 1,053,556 absentee applications have been received by Wisconsin municipal clerks, with 1,028,734 sent and 387,833 returned so far. It’s important to note that this number does not include absentee ballot requests that have not yet been entered into the state system by clerks, such as emailed requests, mailed requests, or requests by voters that require the clerk to approve the photo ID, meaning the number of requests may be much higher.
These absentee ballot numbers from past Spring Elections put the 2020 numbers into perspective:
| Spring Election | Total Absentee Ballots Issued | Total Ballots Cast | Turnout | Percent Absentee |
| 2016 |
249,503 |
2,113,544 |
47.38% |
11.80% |
| 2017 |
103,533 |
708,711 |
15.86% |
14.61% |
| 2018 |
130,041 |
997,485 |
22.32% |
13.04% |
| 2019 |
170,121 |
1,224,303 |
27.22% |
13.90% |
| 2020-To Date |
1,028,734 |
NA |
NA |
NA |
The deadline for registered voters to request an absentee ballot be mailed to you is at 5 p.m. the Thursday before the election, April 2. However, the WEC urges voters not to wait, due to possible delays in mail delivery. If you request an absentee ballot be mailed to you, you can still decide to vote at the polls on Election Day if it did not arrive or if you did not return it. You can also drop your absentee ballot off on Election Day at your polling place or the municipal clerk’s office. Many municipalities are also setting up secure drop boxes and drive-up lanes for dropping off absentee ballots.
There are several ways registered voters can request absentee ballots. If they have internet access, the easiest way is to sign up at MyVote Wisconsin, https://myvote.wi.gov.