Category: Fact briefs

Yes. Wisconsin’s Democratic Gov. Tony Evers, who won his re-election race early Wednesday, received five more votes than Republican candidate Tim Michels in the city of Port Washington, according to unofficial results from Ozaukee County.

Yes. In 1915, a state law was passed in Wisconsin stipulating that absentee ballots “must be opened only at the polls on election day while said polls are open.” While there have been minor language changes and renumberings throughout the years, the original law remains in place.

Yes. Wisconsin’s 1849 ban on abortion is the oldest in the nation that could go into effect post-Roe, according to the Guttmacher Institute, a reproductive health advocacy and research organization.

Yes. Wisconsin’s early voting turnout for the 2022 midterm elections surpassed that the last midterm election in 2018. As of Nov. 8, 2022, a total of 741,795 people had voted early via mail or in person. That compares to 547,954 who voted early at the same point in 2018 — a 35% increase.

No. Voters living in the 38 central count communities — including Milwaukee, Green Bay, Beloit and Janesville—cannot return absentee ballots to their polling places on Election Day, according to the Wisconsin Elections Commission.

Yes. Wisconsin has been a swing state — where voters waver between electing Republicans and Democrats — since at least the mid-20th century, according to experts.

Yes. Wis. Stat. § 6.76 requires all employers in Wisconsin to give employees up to three hours to vote on Election Day. According to the Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development, employees must tell their employer before Election Day that they will be absent to vote. The employer can decide what time of day the employee can be excused to vote.