Milwaukee sees 4 percent in-person turnout, 2 hour waits to cast votes in Tuesday's primary
Tuesday's primary vote in Wisconsin went about as well as expected, considering it happened during a global pandemic.
Despite a last-ditch effort from Gov. Tony Evers (D), the state's presidential primary and state Supreme Court election still went on Tuesday amid a statewide stay-at-home order due to the COVID-19 pandemic. It translated into hours-long waits to vote in socially distant lines and dismal in-person turnouts, but a huge rise in absentee ballot returns, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reports.
In Milwaukee, home to about 467,000 voting-age adults, just 18,803 people showed up to vote at the city's five remaining polling places — a 4 percent turnout. Usually the city has 180 polling locations, so people ended up waiting anywhere from an hour and a half to two hours just to vote. In Green Bay, wait times to vote even reached three hours.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Wisconsin's board of elections did report more than a million absentee ballots have been returned as of Wednesday morning. The U.S. Supreme Court had ruled absentee ballots had to be mailed by Tuesday despite Evers pushing for an extension. However, many people who'd requested absentee ballots more than two weeks ago hadn't received them as of Tuesday morning, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported.
Wisconsin's GOP-run state legislature had the power to postpone Tuesday's election, and last Friday, Evers called them into a special session and then ordered the election postponed. But the U.S. Supreme Court ruled 5-4 Monday night to let the election proceed, saying mail-in ballots should make up for any in-person voting problems.
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Kathryn is a graduate of Syracuse University, with degrees in magazine journalism and information technology, along with hours to earn another degree after working at SU's independent paper The Daily Orange. She's currently recovering from a horse addiction while living in New York City, and likes to share her extremely dry sense of humor on Twitter.
-
The Icelandic women’s strike 50 years onIn The Spotlight The nation is ‘still no paradise’ for women, say campaigners
-
Mall World: why are people dreaming about a shopping centre?Under The Radar Thousands of strangers are dreaming about the same thing and no one sure why
-
Why scientists are attempting nuclear fusionThe Explainer Harnessing the reaction that powers the stars could offer a potentially unlimited source of carbon-free energy, and the race is hotting up
-
NY attorney general asks public for ICE raid footageSpeed Read Rep. Dan Goldman claims ICE wrongly detained four US citizens in the Canal Street raid and held them for a whole day without charges
-
Trump’s huge ballroom to replace razed East WingSpeed Read The White House’s east wing is being torn down amid ballroom construction
-
Trump expands boat strikes to Pacific, killing 5 moreSpeed Read The US military destroyed two more alleged drug smuggling boats in international waters
-
Trump demands millions from his administrationSpeed Read The president has requested $230 million in compensation from the Justice Department for previous federal investigations
-
Trump nominee in limbo after racist texts leakSpeed Read Paul Ingrassia lost Republican support following the exposure of past racist text messages
-
Trump begins East Wing demolition for ballroomspeed read The president’s new construction will cost $250 million
-
Appeals court clears Trump’s Portland troop deploymentSpeed Read A divided federal appeals court ruled that President Trump can send the National Guard to Portland
-
Millions turn out for anti-Trump ‘No Kings’ ralliesSpeed Read An estimated 7 million people participated, 2 million more than at the first ‘No Kings’ protest in June
