While we wait for results from races national to local that everyone is anxious to see in Tuesday’s election, here are some facts about voting for this election in Kenosha County, courtesy of Kenosha County Clerk Regi Waligora:
How many people have already voted? — At the close of business Friday, 30,403 Kenosha County voters had cast ballots during in-person absentee voting hours at city, town and village clerks’ offices. Including ballots received by mail, Kenosha County voters have returned 46,009 absentee ballots, equating to nearly 48 percent of the current total of registered voters in the county. Waligora said the total of absentee ballots received will continue to increase until 8 p.m.
Tuesday, which is the deadline for voters to return them to their municipal clerk’s office.
How many people are registered? — As of Friday, the number of registered voters in Kenosha County was 96,128. Waligora said that reflects an increase of 4,246, or 4.6 percent, since Oct. 1. Of the newly registered voters, 54 percent are from the City of Kenosha, Waligora added.
What about delays in reporting? — Waligora said that due to the number of absentee ballots received for this election, there may be a delay in results reporting at times throughout the evening. This, she said, is due to the amount of time it takes to process the absentee ballots, as well as by-hand tallying that is needed to count votes for registered write-in candidates. “If necessary, we will continue to post updates on the top of the results page regarding any delays throughout election night,” Waligora said. “This helps to communicate the status of the election and provide transparency to the public. “In my office, we understand that this is an election where everyone will be anxiously awaiting the results. The poll workers, municipal clerks and the county clerk staff work as quickly as they can, being conscientious about accuracy, to get the result to the public.”
“Unofficial” vs. “official” results — Waligora said it is important for the public to be aware that the results posted for
elections are “Unofficial Results” until they have been checked and canvassed by the County Board of Canvassers, which occurs in the days following the election. Upon completion of the canvass, the County Board of Canvassers certifies a Votes Cast and Summary Statement, that the board has found the results to be correct and true as
compiled from the original returns made to the Kenosha County Clerk. This certification is then submitted to the Wisconsin Elections Commission for state certification.
