By james art 
MADISON, Wis. – With Election Day days away, thousands of voters have already submitted their absentee ballots by mail or have already cast early in-person ballots. Whether you cast your absentee ballot or on Election Day, all of those votes will be counted.
But how do election officials filter all those ballots by precincts and municipalities? Wisconsin Board of Elections Administrator Megan Wolfe says it all comes down to the local level. In a virtual press conference held on Friday, Nov. 1, Wolff explained the process to members of the press.
“Wisconsin state law states that when townships finish tabulating, they report their unofficial results to their county clerk; and the county clerk posts those unofficial results on his website,” Wolfe said.
These municipalities will first count the ballots on Election Day before opening the submitted absentee ballots and adding those results to the unofficial results. However, according to Wolf, all municipalities are not the same in handling absentee ballots.
“There are about 35 municipalities that use what’s called central counting to count absentee ballots,” Wolf said. “All absentees are counted in a central place. Until all these absentee votes are counted, they will be added to the municipality and district where the absentee voter resides.”
When all Wisconsin county clerks have submitted their results, the Wisconsin Board of Elections will announce which candidate won Wisconsin’s electoral votes.
If for some reason the margin of error is too close for a recount, the WEC will have plans for a recount.
“The count often happens around Thanksgiving and deer hunting season,” Wolfe said. “So a lot of times clerks can struggle if they’re not expecting a recount to hire, and so we want to make sure that everybody is ready and can find the staff they need to be ready in case we have one. “
Wolff also wants to remind people that if they haven’t yet registered to vote in this year’s election, they can’t register on the Sunday or Monday before Election Day, but they can register to vote when they show up at the polls your place during the election day.
“People should bring some kind of proof of where they live, like a utility bill or a bank statement, something with proof of their current address,” Wolfe said. “And all Wisconsin voters will be required to show an acceptable photo ID before voting.”
Polling stations open at 7 am. on Election Day and close at 8:00 p.m.