Kenosha County Clerk Regi Waligora on Monday offered a snapshot of the pre-election voting landscape, and what to expect when the ballots are tallied after the polls close Tuesday night.
How many people have already voted?
At the close of business Friday, 30,403 Kenosha County voters had cast ballots during in-person absentee voting hours at city, town and village clerks’ offices.
Including ballots received by mail, Kenosha County voters have returned 46,009 absentee ballots, equating to nearly 48 percent of the current total of registered voters in the county.
Waligora said the total of absentee ballots received will continue to increase until 8 p.m. Tuesday, which is the deadline for voters to return them to their municipal clerk’s office.
How many people are registered?
As of Friday, the number of registered voters in Kenosha County was 96,128. Waligora said that reflects an increase of 4,246, or 4.6 percent, since Oct. 1.
Of the newly registered voters, 54 percent are from the City of Kenosha, Waligora added.
Can I still register?
Yes. While the online registration period concluded Oct. 16 and pre-election registration ended Friday, voters in Wisconsin may register at their polling place on Election Day.
When are the polls open, and where do I vote?
Polls in Kenosha County and across Wisconsin are open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. Tuesday.
Voters who are unsure where to vote can check their polling place and see sample ballots and other information at https://myvote.wi.gov.
Where and when can I find election results?
Kenosha County returns will be uploaded to the county website at https://www.kenoshacounty.org/1405/Election-Results as they become available from municipalities, usually beginning around 8:30 p.m. on election night.
When following the results on the website, Waligora said it is important to refresh the page throughout the evening.
Waligora noted that four municipalities — Kenosha, Pleasant Prairie, Salem Lakes and the Village of Somers — use central count facilities to process all absentee ballots, rather than counting them at individual polling places.
“Votes received from these municipalities may be provided to the public in two different phases, Election Day results and Central Count results,” Waligora said. “The results for each ward in these municipalities should not be considered as complete, even if the results webpage shows ‘all polls have reported’ until all absentee results have been received and counted by the county clerk. A final message will be posted on the results page once all precincts and votes have been counted.”
What about delays in reporting?
Waligora said that due to the number of absentee ballots received for this election, there may be a delay in results reporting at times throughout the evening. This, she said, is due to the amount of time it takes to process the absentee ballots, as well as by-hand tallying that is needed to count votes for registered write-in candidates.
“If necessary, we will continue to post updates on the top of the results page regarding any delays throughout election night,” Waligora said. “This helps to communicate the status of the election and provide transparency to the public.”
Waligora added: “In my office, we understand that this is an election where everyone will be anxiously awaiting the results. The poll workers, municipal clerks and the county clerk staff work as quickly as they can, being conscientious about accuracy, to get the result to the public.”
“Unofficial” vs. “official” results:
Waligora said it is important for the public to be aware that the results posted for elections are “Unofficial Results” until they have been checked and canvassed by the County Board of Canvassers, which occurs in the days following the election.
Upon completion of the canvass, the County Board of Canvassers certifies a Votes Cast and Summary Statement, that the board has found the results to be correct and true as compiled from the original returns made to the Kenosha County Clerk. This certification is then submitted to the Wisconsin Elections Commission for state certification.
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