Early Voting Surging Compared to 2023 Supreme Court Election
Dane County, home to liberal Supreme Court candidate Susan Crawford, has reported 11,784 total absentee ballots. That’s around 39 percent higher than at the same time in the 2023 Supreme Court race. Milwaukee County placed a close second Tuesday with 11,143 ballots — a 32 percent increase from two years ago. Waukesha County, home to conservative Supreme Court candidate Brad Schimel, has reported 9,867 absentee ballots so far — a 50 percent increase.
Washington County, the most Republican of the suburban WOW counties, has seen a 170 percent increase in total absentee ballots in 2025 compared with 2023. The county’s early in-person vote increase was even more dramatic, jumping from just 620 after the first day of early voting in 2023 to 2,451 this year — a nearly 300 percent increase.
Washington County Clerk Ashley Reichert told WPR the surge is due to an initiative last year aimed at incentivizing municipal and town clerks to extend early voting hours.
“Some of the most important days that our clerks have added, I think, are the weekends, being able to meet the needs of people who are working,” Reichert said. “So, I’ll be curious to see what the turnout is on like the last Saturday before the election. I think we actually might even have a municipality that added that last Sunday before the election.”
https://urbanmilwaukee.com/2025/03/20/early-voting-surging-compared-to-2023-supreme-court-election/