(The Center Square) – Fewer people voted early in Wisconsin this year.
The latest numbers from the Wisconsin Elections Commission show a nearly 50% drop in early absentee voting in the state.
WEC’s numbers show that in Wisconsin’s early voting period, between March 24 and Sunday, 148,307 people cast an early, in-person ballot.
Last year, that number was more than 361,000 early, in-person votes.
Another 176,089 people cast their early vote by mail this year. That too, is down from last year, when the mail-in early vote total hit nearly 333,000 votes.
Some of the drop is being blamed on what some are calling a lower stakes Supreme Court race.
Last year’s race between Brad Schimel and Susan Crawford decided the ideological balance of the Wisconsin Supreme Court. Last year’s race also became a national race and saw the involvement of Elon Musk.
The 2025 race, just like Wisconsin’s 2024 race, set spending records. Last year Schimel and Crawford saw more than $100 million spent on their race. It remains the most expensive judicial race in U.S. history. The 2024 race was the previous record holder, with more than $50 million in total spending.
This year’s race between Judge Maria Lazar and Judge Chris Taylor will be a multi-million-dollar affair but won’t come anywhere close to the cost of the last races in the state.
While early voting numbers are down statewide, early votes are largely concentrated this year.
The Elections Commission said early votes from just three counties. Milwaukee, Dane and Waukesha account for 45% of all early votes cast this year. Those are also Wisconsin’s three largest counties.
The rest of the voters in the state will get to cast their ballots today. Polls in the state are open until 8 p.m.
