MADISON, Wis. — Face-to-face voting will begin on Tuesday Wisconsin battlefieldFormer President Barack Obama and Democratic Vice Presidential candidate Tim Walz organized events to encourage Madison liberals and Republicans to vote. Donald Trump Before election day.
Trump lost More or less Wisconsin 21,000 votes In 2020, elections saw unprecedented early voting and absenteeism due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Trump and the Vice President Kamala Harris Another slim margin is expected in Wisconsin and both sides are encouraging voters to vote early.
It was Trump very critical Voting by mail in past elections, falsely claiming to be fraudulent. But this election is him and his supporters embracing all forms to vote, including by mail and in person. Trump himself pushed for early voting at a rally in Dodge County, Wisconsin, earlier this month.
Brian Schimming, chairman of the Republican Party of Wisconsin, said Monday that the first message from Trump and Republicans to the polls this year has been “very clear.” Schimming also plugged the use of absentee ballot boxes, a method of returning votes that Trump once opposed. Some Wisconsin Republicans still do.
“We have to use every imaginable way to get votes,” Schimming said in a press call. “If it’s the difference between getting the vote or not getting the vote, I say to the Republicans, ‘Put it on.’ in the mailbox or put it in the container.’
Many Republican incumbents and candidates planned to vote on Tuesday.
“You never know when a blizzard is going to hit Wisconsin in November,” said U.S. Rep. Bryan Steil, who represents southeastern Wisconsin and plans to vote Tuesday. “It’s a great opportunity while the weather is nice to get out to your local office and vote and have that vote in the bank.”
Obama and Walz, the governor of neighboring Minnesota, hosted early voting in the Democratic stronghold of Madison. Harris held a rally at the same location last month, which drew more than 10,000 people.
Obama went to neighboring Michigan on Tuesday, among other things several stops the former president is making inroads in battleground states to push for early voting.
It was Harris spending a lot of time in the year blue wall ” Wisconsin, Michigan and Pennsylvania in the final weeks of the campaign, including stops in Michigan and Wisconsin on Monday. Republican vice presidential candidate JD Vance was in the conservative suburbs of Milwaukee on Sunday.
The Democratic Party of Wisconsin was also hosting events across Wisconsin to promote early voting, including Souls to the Polls, a Milwaukee-based organization of liberal advocacy groups targeting black voters. That’s a key demographics For Democrats in Milwaukee, the state’s largest city and also the source of most Democratic votes.
Wisconsin’s early voting period, which begins Tuesday, will run through Sunday, Nov. 3. However, early voting locations and times vary across the state. Voters do not have to give a reason for not voting. Mail-in ballots began in late September, but starting Tuesday voters can apply and cast their ballots in person at designated polling locations.
On Friday, more than 305,000 absentee ballots were returned in Wisconsin. Voters can continue to return by mail, in person or at the address absentee ballot boxes in communities where they are available. All absentee ballots must be received by the time the polls close at 8:00 PM on Election Day.
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The story has been updated to correct the size of the Harris rally last month, from more than 14,000 to more than 10,000 people.