Early Voting Surging Compared to 2023 Supreme Court Election

More than twice as many Wisconsinites cast in-person absentee ballots on the first day of early voting for Wisconsin’s April Supreme Court election compared to the same period two years ago.

All told, clerks across the state report receiving nearly 29,000 more votes this year than at the same point in 2023’s Supreme Court race.

While absentee ballots for the Supreme Court, state superintendent of schools and local races have already been circulating, Tuesday marked residents’ first chance to cast their absentee ballots in-person.

Data from the Wisconsin Elections Commission shows there were 34,036 early, in-person ballots cast Tuesday. That’s close to 121 percent more than the 15,435 in-person ballots received on the first day of early voting ahead of the 2023 high court election.

When combining early, in-person ballots and mail-in absentee ballots, clerks had received 85,612 absentee votes, or 28,793 more than in 2023. That works out to nearly a 51 percent increase.

The data represents a small sample, with in-person early voting continuing until March 30, and absentee ballots counted through election day. But it shows a trend of more people banking their votes before election day, particularly in Republican counties.

Traditionally, Democrats have embraced early voting, while Republicans, including President Donald Trump, had previously called for restricting it. The last two years, the GOP has changed its tune, with the Republican National Committee and Republican Party of Wisconsin calling on supporters of Trump to “swamp the vote” by banking their ballots ahead of election day.

Dane, Milwaukee, Waukesha counties lead ballot tally

Unsurprisingly, Wisconsin’s three most populous counties are leading the rest of the state in terms of returned absentee ballots thus far.

Dane County, home to liberal Supreme Court candidate Susan Crawford, has reported 11,784 total absentee ballots. That’s around 39 percent higher than at the same time in the 2023 Supreme Court race. Milwaukee County placed a close second Tuesday with 11,143 ballots — a 32 percent increase from two years ago. Waukesha County, home to conservative Supreme Court candidate Brad Schimel, has reported 9,867 absentee ballots so far — a 50 percent increase.

Washington County, the most Republican of the suburban WOW counties, has seen a 170 percent increase in total absentee ballots in 2025 compared with 2023. The county’s early in-person vote increase was even more dramatic, jumping from just 620 after the first day of early voting in 2023 to 2,451 this year — a nearly 300 percent increase.

Washington County Clerk Ashley Reichert told WPR the surge is due to an initiative last year aimed at incentivizing municipal and town clerks to extend early voting hours.

“Some of the most important days that our clerks have added, I think, are the weekends, being able to meet the needs of people who are working,” Reichert said. “So, I’ll be curious to see what the turnout is on like the last Saturday before the election. I think we actually might even have a municipality that added that last Sunday before the election.”

Listen to the WPR report

Wisconsin clerks see surge of early, in-person voting ahead of April Supreme Court election was originally published by Wisconsin Public Radio.