Wisconsin midterms: Milwaukee tallies 60K+ absentee ballots

MILWAUKEE - Polls across the Wisconsin closed at 8 p.m. Tuesday night, Nov. 8 – the deadline for voters looking to cast a ballot in the midterm elections.

Milwaukee's Central Count location at the Wisconsin Center was one of the busiest in the state. On election night, roughly 250 election workers processed tens of thousands of ballots.

More than 60,000 absentee ballots were counted Tuesday. The Milwaukee Election Commission's Executive Director Claire Woodall-Vogg said the number of absentee ballots is about the same as the 2016 general election, but far fewer than in 2020. 

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The absentee ballot counting process began at 7 a.m. when polls opened. Workers reviewed envelopes to make sure they met requirements before being opened and processed by ward. At about 4 p.m. Tuesday, Woodall-Vogg said roughly half of the absentee ballots had already been counted. Operations at Central Count wrapped up around 10:45 p.m.

"I think that kind of a sense of civic engagement at Central Count today where our observers asked questions, election workers were open and happy to answer them and shed more light on the process. It’s been really smooth sailing," Woodall-Vogg said.

Milwaukee Central Count on Nov. 8, 2022 midterm elections

There was some tension as the process neared the end. An observer was scrutinizing some of the final steps, and Woodall-Vogg threatened to have that observer removed. Things then quieted down.

For the 2022 midterm elections, Woodall-Vogg said roughly 70-75% of registered voters turned out.

Milwaukee County Clerk George Christenson around 11:45 p.m. confirmed Milwaukee's results were fully reported. At the time, Oak Creek, Shorewood and Wauwatosa were the only municipalities yet to fully report. He described the day as "extremely smooth," and said the clerk's office received no word of concerns or incidents.