If you want to look at which areas of Wisconsin have leaned into early in-person voting the most, you'd have to look outstate. Rural voters have been likeliest to change how they vote. That's as @propublica.org finds rural America most susceptible to mail delays. www.votebeat.org/wisconsin/20...

Rural Wisconsin is behind the state's shift in early voting

All of the counties that have doubled their early in-person votes from this point in 2022 are in rural parts of the state.

votebeat.org

Quick hit story on how the gubernatorial candidates differ on all things elections -- except for one key thing in common www.votebeat.org/wisconsin/20...

Wisconsin’s governor candidates diverge on how the state should run elections. Here’s where they stand.

One candidate backed Wisconsin’s strict voter ID laws. The other likened them to “what was going on in Jim Crow days.”

votebeat.org

After a slow start, there are some signs that absentee voting this election may surpass that of '22 midterms. Eight days out from election: 200k early votes, 441k total absentees returned as of this AM 127k early votes, 445k in '22

As of earlier today, WI voters had cast more than 103,000 in-person early ballots. That’s compared with 65,000 in-person early votes at this time in the November 2022 midterm election.

WEC told clerks that federal agents from the FBI and ICE can be legitimate election observers at the polls in some cases. Dane County took issue with that, telling WEC it vehemently disagrees with the agency's interpretation of federal law. More on that dispute here www.votebeat.org/wisconsin/20...

Can unarmed ICE agents watch voting? In Wisconsin that depends who you ask.

A dispute between the state’s second-largest county and its election agency highlights different approaches to the prospect of federal intervention at the polls.

votebeat.org

In Wisconsin, voters cast early in-person ballots as distrust in the mail grows www.votebeat.org/wisconsin/20...

Here’s why Wisconsin voters are opting out of the mail and into early in-person voting

Voters from around the Milwaukee metro area told Votebeat that in-person absentee voting is a simple way to avoid a mail system that they say has become risky.

votebeat.org

For years, cybersecurity experts have been telling election officials to use government email and web domains. But in Wisconsin, a third of clerks -- all in small towns -- still use emails like Hotmail and Gmail. WEC is driving the shift to .gov but it's a heavy lift

Remember all the conspiracy theories about Milwaukee's August 11 election error? We had three experts look at the tabulator audit logs Milwaukee released after the election and the consensus is the same: Nothing was askew. Read more: www.votebeat.org/wisconsin/20...

Milwaukee election audit logs show no evidence of fraud, experts say

Experts say the logs confirm what had been clear from the start: A human error delayed results in the August primary but there was no tampering.

votebeat.org

NEW: Here's my full report on what went wrong in Milwaukee last night, and how it overshadowed city plans to show the public how it was more efficiently and transparently processing absentee ballots on Election Day. Link: www.votebeat.org/wisconsin/20...

Inside the long wait for Milwaukee’s election results

Milwaukee was on pace to report election results relatively quickly — but an error delayed them until after 1 a.m.

votebeat.org

Milwaukee officials are done counting absentees. They got up to around 28k, and hope to report them by 10:30 p.m. That would be a relatively early night for the state's biggest Election Day operation.

Hello from Milwaukee’s central count, the largest Election Day operation in the state. I’ll be here all day, covering the officials processing around 25k ballots today. Let me know if you have any questions/concerns!

What to expect when you're expecting election results in Wisconsin www.votebeat.org/wisconsin/20...

A big election is coming up in Wisconsin. Here’s when to expect results.

Municipalities like Milwaukee sometimes take until the wee hours of Wednesday to report election results. Here’s why.

votebeat.org

One of Votebeat's very best resources is one that all election reporters can use. This year @votebeat.org is relaunching its experts desk, a Slack channel with hundreds of reporters and election experts, where you can experts your election questions and get (many) correct answers

Exclusive new details on who the FBI is talking to in Wisconsin about the 2020 election, from Dion Nissenbaum and @alexandershur.bsky.social on @votebeat.org today. www.votebeat.org/national/202...

The Trump administration is investigating the 2020 election. It may be laying the groundwork for 2026.

Claims of mass voter fraud have been debunked again and again, but the Trump administration is still relitigating the 2020 election.

votebeat.org

The League of Women Voters of Wisconsin recently sued to require every clerk to give voters an opportunity to fix mistakes on their absentee envelopes Currently clerks can choose whether to reach out to affected voters. Here's what clerks/experts say about the suit www.votebeat.org/wisconsin/20...

‘Fundamentally unfair’: Lawsuit alleges voters are being treated differently across Wisconsin

Right now, some Wisconsin clerks let voters fix mistakes with their absentee ballots, and others don’t. A new lawsuit seeks to impose a uniform standard.

votebeat.org

23 late-arriving Madison absentee ballots must be counted, judge rules www.votebeat.org/wisconsin/20...

Judge orders Madison to count 23 rejected absentee ballots in state Supreme Court race

A judge ruled that 23 late-arriving Madison absentee ballots must be counted after voters argued they were being disenfranchised due to election officials’ errors.

votebeat.org

NEW: A Votebeat review found that Mequon Clerk Caroline Fochs has applied an unusually strict standard in rejecting ballots -- and misapplied her stated standard in her rejection of at least 10 ballots since 2024. WEC is meeting about Mequon as we speak. www.votebeat.org/wisconsin/20...

Mequon clerk appears to have rejected ballots that met even her own strict standard, Votebeat review finds

Mequon’s clerk rejected ballots from places like Fox Point — even though those municipalities are uniquely named and should have met her own standard.

votebeat.org

A municipal clerk in Ozaukee County has an unusually strict standard to decide whether witness addresses are valid. In this past election, the Mequon clerk's standard led to five ballot rejections -- two of which may have been due to bad data on her part. www.votebeat.org/wisconsin/20...

Flexible rule for Wisconsin absentee ballots leads to rejected votes, possible legal action

The Mequon fight centers on who can reject ballots — and who gets the final say.

votebeat.org

🧵Post-election Old Fashioneds? Running elections from a beef farm? A county that in this time of unprecedented turnover has come up with a collaborative and helpful system for training new clerks? All that and more in my latest dispatch, from all over Rock County: www.votebeat.org/wisconsin/20...

Running an election is harder than ever. This Wisconsin county makes it easier on new clerks.

As Wisconsin wrestles with unprecedented clerk turnover, the county is taking an all-hands-on-deck approach to keep new clerks in the field.

votebeat.org

We've obtained emails between the top election official in Maricopa County, AZ, and the Department of Justice, raising questions about whether he's helping their investigation of the county's elections. www.votebeat.org/arizona/2026...

🧵NEW: Ahead of Madison & Dane County election boards deciding to count 23 late-arriving ballots, an attorney for the state GOP told city and county officials that doing so would be illegal. The city and county decided to count them after their lawyers' go-ahead www.votebeat.org/wisconsin/20...

Small ballot error in Wisconsin could have big legal consequences

It could just be a matter of time before Wisconsin’s mail-ballot deadline law winds up in court.

votebeat.org

I am (virtually) live from the Dane County Board of Canvassers board, which, unlike the city, doesn't appear on the same page about counting the late-arriving ballots. One canvasser says he doesn't want to count any ballots that arrive at polling places after 8 p.m.

Alexander Shur@alexandershur.bsky.social · 7mo ago

🧵NEW: 23 Madison ballots arrived after 8 p.m. to polling places on Election Day despite law saying they need to arrive before then Some court cases offer leniency in these situations, but it's unclear if those ballots can count or will be challenged in the certification process

The Madison canvassing board unanimously decided to count the ballots today. The county will discuss the matter on Monday. But yes, this seems to be a bit of a gray area.

Rick Hasen@rickhasen.bsky.social · 7mo ago

Well they better figure it out definitively before the midterms. This is not tenable in the current political atmosphere.

🧵NEW: 23 Madison ballots arrived after 8 p.m. to polling places on Election Day despite law saying they need to arrive before then Some court cases offer leniency in these situations, but it's unclear if those ballots can count or will be challenged in the certification process

Wisconsin is the latest state to bring its laws up to speed with the 2022 federal law seeking to prevent a repeat of the post-2020 attempt to disrupt election certification. www.votebeat.org/wisconsin/20...

A city error in 2024 left 193 ballots uncounted. Some of the affected voters have lost trust in the system, and some oppose the lawsuit meant to hold the city accountable. www.votebeat.org/wisconsin/20...

What should the penalty be for disenfranchisement? In Madison, affected voters are split

Some stopped voting or abandoned absentee ballots. Others oppose the lawsuit filed over the error — revealing deep divides among affected voters.

votebeat.org

At a recent WisPolitics event, Senate Majority Leader Devin LeMahieu said the absence of a Senate elections committee this session hasn't slowed down voting legislation. But a Votebeat analysis shows the Senate lags far behind the Assembly on voting bills www.votebeat.org/wisconsin/20...

Without election committee, Wisconsin Senate drags its feet on election bills

The Assembly has moved most election bills this session, while the Senate — which now lacks a dedicated elections committee — has let most of them stall.

votebeat.org

NEW: Madison this week appealed a court ruling that found the city can be sued for monetary damages for disenfranchising nearly 200 voters in 2024. The appeal focuses on the threshold for monetary damages -- and alleges it requires more than Madison's unintentional errors

The city said that the lower court decision on uncounted absentee ballots in 2024 would unrealistically require “error-free” elections statewide.

In appeal, Madison warns disenfranchisement ruling could trigger wave of election lawsuits

The city said that the lower court decision on uncounted absentee ballots in 2024 would unrealistically require “error-free” elections statewide.

bit.ly

Am looking forward to WaPo reporting on Elon's draft executive order that would "unlock" time travel.

Trump, seeking executive power over elections, is urged to declare emergency

Activists who say they are in coordination with the White House are circulating a draft executive order that would unlock extraordinary presidential power over voting.

washingtonpost.com