Election Day

Election Day is finally here. The polls are open until 8:00pm
tonight, but County Clerk Lisa Freiberg reminds voters that results will not come
immediately after those lines end. 

While the August primary results were available in under an hour, Freiberg says “I’m anticipating a
little bit more time, I would have to say 9:00pm, 9:30pm unless we have something
that happens at the polling location. We tested and all the modem lines worked
on Wednesday and Thursday. Last week we were testing all of the equipment,
making sure the machines work.”

Freiberg adds that absentee ballots have already been pre-numbered – but could not be opened until today. 

She hopes that process will save some time on the back end, as it is “something they would usually do on Election Day, but we know we’re going to be really, really busy and for them to start working to get that time consuming stuff done. Because at 8:00pm everybody wants unofficial results right now – and if we’re going to be spending another hour or two hours feeding those absentee ballots, this is just stuff we can do ahead of time.”

Freiberg says her staff is preparing for any scenario,
especially once the polls close at 8:00pm tonight. 

She tells us “we’re running it as if
there could possibly be that recount. Those numbers are really tight, so that’s
why it might take a little bit longer – but we are dotting our I’s and crossing
our T’s.”

Again, anyone in line when the polls close at 8:00pm will have a chance to cast a ballot. To find out more about today’s election – go to My Vote Wisconsin