Votes pour in ahead of next week’s election

Local clerks report nearly half of registered voters have cast ballots in run-up to Nov. 3 election fueled by acrimony, pandemic
By 
KRISTYN HALBIG ZIEHM
Ozaukee Press staff

Voters have been streaming into municipal halls this week to cast their ballots in a presidential election marked by an unusual amount of acrimony along with fears of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Local clerks report that roughly half of their registered voters have either requested mail-in absentee ballots or voted in-person.

By the time election day — Tuesday, Nov. 3 — is over at 8 p.m., they said they expect that between 90% and 95% of voters will have cast their ballots.

In a nod to just how frustrated many voters are with the number of robocalls and mailings they are receiving, Town of Port Washington Clerk Heather Krueger said one voter cast her ballot and then turned and asked, “Now that I’ve voted, can you stop calling me?”

Krueger said that by Tuesday noon about 48% of registered voters, or 546 people, had either voted early or applied for an absentee ballot.

Fewer people are requesting absentee ballots than she expected, Krueger said, but more are coming in to vote in person.

“It’s slowly, steadily increasing,” she said. The busiest day was Thursday, Oct. 22, when 63 came to Town Hall to vote over two hours.

“People are very concerned about the state of affairs,” Krueger said. “Their vote counts, and they realize it.”

Many people who voted absentee by mail have called to make sure the town has received their ballot, she said.

“They want to make sure, will it be counted?” she said.

Only one ballot had to be returned because the voter hadn’t signed it, she said.

In the City of Port Washington, Clerk Susan Westerbeke said that almost half of the 8,318 registered voters — 4,884 — have requested absentee ballots or come in to cast their ballots by the end of Tuesday.

About 600 of these absentee ballots had not yet been returned, she said.

“We have never had this many ballots go out by mail,” Westerbeke said. “In general, people would come to the polls.”

But those numbers will change, Westerbeke said, noting she expects a significant number of voters to come in from 7:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Wednesday and Thursday and 7:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Friday to vote early. 

After that, voters will have to wait for election day to cast their ballots at the polls.

By Friday, Westerbeke said, it’s likely that 60% of the city’s voters will have voted absentee, either by mail or in person.

Even after Friday, people with absentee ballots can still mail them or turn them in at city hall before election day. 

Westerbeke said she will be in her office from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday and Sunday to prepare for the election, and the front door of city hall will be open for people to drop off their absentee ballots. 

Absentee ballots can also be dropped off at the box in back of city hall before 8 p.m. Tuesday.

There will also be blue drop-off boxes at the polls — City Hall, St. Matthew Lutheran Church and Grand Avenue United Methodist Church — on Tuesday for voters to drop off absentee ballots, Westerbeke said.

People are calling to request absentee ballots — especially people  who are now quarantined because of the pandemic — Westerbeke said, and those requests are being given priority since the deadline to request absentee ballots is 5 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 29.

“I want to make sure anyone who needs a ballot gets one,” she said.

Although time is short for them to mail the ballot in, absentee voters can have someone drop them off at city hall.

Absentee ballots will be processed and counted on Tuesday along with those votes cast on election day. Westerbeke said she still anticipates about 90% turnout in the city —more than the last presidential election, when turnout was in the mid 80%.

“Tuesday, I think, will be a very busy day,” Westerbeke said. “The public needs to understand it’s a presidential election. There may be lines at times, so they should bring their patience.”

The polls are open Tuesday from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. throughout the county. 

Anyone waiting in line to vote at 8 p.m. Tuesday can cast their ballot.

‘I anticipate that after 8 p.m. we’ll still be busy,” Westerbeke said.

Both Westerbeke and Krueger also reported that a significant number of people have been stopping in to register for the election.

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Wisconsin’s largest paid circulation community weekly newspaper. Serving Port Washington, Saukville, Grafton, Fredonia, Belgium, as well as Ozaukee County government. Locally owned and printed in Port Washington, Wisconsin.

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