As Election Nears, Wisconsin’s In-Person Absentee Ballots Have Surged

Early voting booth. Photo taken July 28, 2026 by Sophie Bolich.

With only a few days to go until Election Day, hundreds of thousands of Wisconsinites have already turned in their absentee ballots — and overwhelmingly, they’re doing it in-person.

On the Friday morning before Election Day, the county totals from the Wisconsin Elections Commission showed statewide 693,334 absentee ballots had come in, which was about 50,000 votes more than at the same time in 2022.

Of that Oct. 30 total, the WEC reported receiving roughly 300,000 mail-in ballots, compared to about 384,000 in 2022 — a more than 20 percent drop.

At the same time, there was a significant uptick in the number of in-person absentee ballots, from about 259,000 in 2022 to 394,000 in 2026 — a more than 50 percent increase.

In-person numbers have been surging this year, following President Donald Trump’s unsuccessful attempts to restrict who can vote by mail and concerns over delays in the Postal Service.

Earlier this year, the WEC asked the U.S. Postal Service to speed up their deliveries of absentee ballots — after the majority of clerks reported problems with delays.

The Fond du Lac County clerk previously told WPR that after the April 7 election, she received 100 absentee ballots too late.

And those concerns may have played into many Wisconsin voters’ choices of how they turned in their ballot this year.

Changes reflected in Democratic and Republican counties

As of Oct. 30, Wisconsin’s most populous areas — Milwaukee and Dane counties — both saw a decrease in the number of absentee mail-in ballots.

Milwaukee County’s mail-in absentee totals dropped by more than 25 percent compared to the same time in 2022. Dane County’s mail-in absentee ballots dropped by more than 30 precent over the same span.

At the same time, Milwaukee County’s in-person absentee ballots climbed this year by 45 percent, while Dane County’s climbed by almost 50 percent.

Both counties are Democratic strongholds, but the drop appeared in Republican counties, too.

Washington County saw a more than 20 percent decline in mail-in ballots this year. Waukesha County saw a decline of nearly the same rate.

At the same time, Washington County’s in-person absentee votes were up by about 75 percent. Waukesha County’s in-person absentee voting was up by more than 40 percent.

As Election Day nears, Wisconsin’s in-person absentee ballots have surged was originally published by Wisconsin Public Radio.