Reading Time: 3 minutes

Election Day involves more than quickly marking a ballot and anxiously awaiting election returns.

Filing dispatches from across Wisconsin during Tuesday’s general election, our reporters examined how residents participated in the democratic process. Voters and election workers brought joy, angst and purpose to the polls. 

In some cases images told their stories more powerfully than words. 

Here is the best of Wisconsin Watch’s photography from Election Day, portraits of what we saw and who we met.

A man stands outside a building and talks as people listen and others in the background carry umbrellas.
Jonathan Walton, Ward 29 chief Inspector, middle, makes an announcement as the polls open on Election Day on Nov. 5, 2024, at Madison East High School in Madison, Wis. (Joe Timmerman / Wisconsin Watch)
A man sitting at a table and wearing a mask hands a ballot to a woman standing on the other side of the table.
Volunteer poll worker Seth McClure hands a ballot to Lisa Wilber of Madison, right, during Election Day on Nov. 5, 2024, at Madison East High School in Madison, Wis. (Joe Timmerman / Wisconsin Watch)
Elliot Chmura-Moore helps his father, Dylan, submit his ballot. It was the 20th vote submitted on Election Day, Nov. 5, 2024, at the Oshkosh Public Library polling place in Oshkosh, Wis. (Julius Shieh / Wisconsin Watch)
Shane Worden, one of the first 20 voters of the day at the Oshkosh Public Library in Oshkosh, Wis., gives a thumbs up to a poll worker after inserting his ballot into a voting machine. (Julius Shieh / Wisconsin Watch)
People sit at an L-shaped table next to a wall.
Election workers count ballots at Green Bay Central Count in the Green Bay City Hall building on Nov. 5, 2024. (Julius Shieh / Wisconsin Watch)
People sit in a room with an "Observer Area" sign.
An observer leans back and watches while election workers count ballots at Green Bay Central Count in the Green Bay City Hall building on Nov. 5, 2024. (Julius Shieh / Wisconsin Watch)
A woman in a gray sweater stands next to a table where two people are seated. A voting station is in the background.
Town of Westfield poll worker Frank Traina assists fellow poll worker and chief election inspector Lacey Baumann as she casts her ballot on Nov. 5, 2024, at Westfield Town Hall in Marquette County, Wis. (Bennet Goldstein / Wisconsin Watch)
Two young men stand in a room and talk to another man at right.
UW-Oshkosh students Adam Ketter, left, and Jacob Young spent the day as poll workers. Students and community members voted at the Culver Family Welcome Center at UW-Oshkosh in Oshkosh, Wis., on Nov. 5, 2024. (Julius Shieh / Wisconsin Watch)
A man in a wheelchair is outside on a sidewalk by "Vote" signs.
A voter heads to the polls on Election Day on Nov. 5, 2024, at Mary Ryan Boys & Girls Club in Milwaukee. (Joe Timmerman / Wisconsin Watch)
A ballot is temporarily stuck in the tabulation machine during Election Day on Nov. 5, 2024, at Milwaukee Central Count at the Baird Center in Milwaukee. (Joe Timmerman / Wisconsin Watch)
Jefferson Davis, a Republican election observer, left, and Republican Party of Milwaukee County Chairman Hilario Deleon, right, talk to each other after learning that the doors of the tabulation machines were not properly sealed during Election Day on Nov. 5, 2024, at Milwaukee Central Count at the Baird Center in Milwaukee. (Joe Timmerman / Wisconsin Watch)
Alvonia Missouri of Milwaukee, joined by her great-grandchildren, Tyriah Smith, 5, left, and Tyron Smith, 7, right, registers to vote during Election Day on Nov. 5, 2024, at Mary Ryan Boys & Girls Club in Milwaukee. (Joe Timmerman / Wisconsin Watch)
Sharon Brown, a volunteer poll worker, center, helps Iyana Simpson, 21, right, prepare to vote for her first time during Election Day on Nov. 5, 2024, at the Clinton & Bernice Rose Senior Center in Milwaukee. (Joe Timmerman / Wisconsin Watch)
A woman in a red sweatshirt raises her arms.
Volunteer poll worker Beverly Cooley cheers after helping Jayvonte Wingard, 18, right, vote for his first time on Election Day, Nov. 5, 2024, at the Clinton & Bernice Rose Senior Center in Milwaukee. (Joe Timmerman / Wisconsin Watch)

A young girl in a green jacket is on the shoulders of a man holding a ballot.
Devin Hildebrand casts a ballot as his daughter Ivy, 2, wears a voting sticker from her mother, Lily, at Green Isle Pavilion in Allouez, Wis., on Nov. 5, 2024. (Julius Shieh / Wisconsin Watch)
A building that says "ALLOUEZ" is seen at night with light coming out of an entrance and two windows.
Voters cast their ballots at Allouez Village Hall in Allouez, Wis., on the evening of Nov. 5, 2024. (Julius Shieh / Wisconsin Watch)
A woman in a red suit coat leans over a table with two computers as other people watch.
Paulina Gutiérrez, executive director of the Milwaukee Election Commission, prepares to clear the flash drives used to store the final vote count during Election Day on Nov. 5, 2024, at Milwaukee Central Count at the Baird Center in Milwaukee. (Joe Timmerman / Wisconsin Watch)
People sit and walk in a large room with tables and chairs.
Election workers count ballots on Election Day, Nov. 5, 2024, at Milwaukee Central Count at the Baird Center in Milwaukee. (Joe Timmerman / Wisconsin Watch)
Two women in blue and purple tops confer next to a bin with a "WARD 271" sign.
Election workers count ballots during Election Day on Nov. 5, 2024, at Milwaukee Central Count at the Baird Center in Milwaukee. (Joe Timmerman / Wisconsin Watch)
People standing in a room cheer and clap.
People cheer as 8th Congressional District candidate Tony Wied makes a victory speech at the Legacy Hotel in Green Bay, Wis., on Nov. 5, 2024. (Julius Shieh / Wisconsin Watch)
A man wearing a yellow vest with"Team Trump" patches is seen from the back.
An attendee of 8th Congressional District candidate Tony Wied’s election night gathering is seen at the Legacy Hotel on Nov. 5, 2024, in Green Bay, Wis. (Julius Shieh / Wisconsin Watch)
Two men hug.
Tony Wied celebrates his 8th Congressional District victory at the Legacy Hotel in Green Bay, Wis., on Nov. 5, 2024. (Julius Shieh / Wisconsin Watch)

Wisconsin Watch is a nonprofit, nonpartisan newsroom. Subscribe to our newsletters for original stories and our Friday news roundup.

Creative Commons License

Republish our articles for free, online or in print, under a Creative Commons license.

Joe Timmerman is Wisconsin Watch’s staff photojournalist via Report for America. Previously, he interned at the Indianapolis Star, The Texas Tribune and the Cincinnati Enquirer. A native of Loveland, Ohio, Timmerman graduated from Ohio University in 2023 with dual degrees in visual communication and journalism. His work has been recognized by the William Randolph Hearst Foundation, the National Press Photographers Foundation, the Ohio News Photographers Association and the National Association of Television Arts and Sciences.

Julius Shieh joined Wisconsin Watch in June 2024 as an intern through the Scripps Howard Fund, reporting with the Northeast Wisconsin News Lab collaboration. Prior to joining, he was an intern and freelancer based out of Austin, Texas, working with KUT/KUTX Austin, The Texas Tribune and KTBC-7 Austin. He holds a BA in English and history from the University of Texas at Austin, where he reported for three years and served as photo editor at The Daily Texan, UT Austin’s student newspaper.

Bennet Goldstein reports on agriculture and environmental issues as an investigative reporter at Wisconsin Watch and as a participant in ProPublica’s Local Reporting Network and the Mississippi River Basin Ag & Water Desk. He formerly served as a Report for America corps member and on the breaking news team at the Omaha World Herald. Prior, he was a general assignment reporter at daily newspapers in Iowa. Bennet’s work has garnered recognition from the North American Agricultural Journalists, Society of Environmental Journalists, the Association of LGBTQ+ Journalists, the Milwaukee Press Club, the Iowa Newspaper Association and Associated Press Media Editors. He has participated in the Solutions Journalism Network Climate Change Cohort and the Metcalf Institute’s Science Immersion Workshop. Bennet studied psychology at Washington University in St. Louis and earned a master’s degree in history of science, medicine and technology from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.