Thousands vote absentee in Wisconsin recalls
Photo
In a Monday, May 28, 2012 photo, people take advantage of early voting in the recall elections, at the Madison city clerk's office. The office opened on Memorial Day to accommodate heavy interest in voting before the June 5 recall election, especially the contest between Republican Gov. Scott Walker and Democrat Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett.
WAUKESHA — Thousands of Wisconsin voters have cast absentee ballots in the state's historic recall elections, a surge that foreshadows heavy turnout Tuesday when Republican Gov. Scott Walker will try to become the first governor in U.S. history to survive a recall vote.
The number of absentee voters underscores yet again the intensity of the races, particularly the struggle between Walker and his Democratic challenger, Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett.
According to the state Government Accountability Board, local election clerks who track absentee voting through a statewide computer system had issued at least 182,000 absentee ballots by mail or in response to in-person requests through midday Friday.
That's less than the almost 231,000 absentee ballots cast during the 2010 gubernatorial race, which saw Walker beat Barrett by about 125,000 votes. However, only a third of Wisconsin clerks use the tracking system, which means the actual number of ballots issued is likely much, much higher.
Thursday was the last day for the general public to request absentee ballots by mail. Military voters and shut-ins had until the end of the day Friday to request ballots by mail. In-person voting at clerks' offices ended Friday.
Election clerks in Democratic strongholds of Madison and Milwaukee as well conservative Waukesha had already issued more ballots by midweek than in 2010.
As of the end of the business day Wednesday, Madison had issued about 14,250 ballots compared with about 12,900 total in 2010. Milwaukee had issued more than 15,800, up from 14,000 in 2010. In Waukesha, perhaps the staunchest conservative community in the state, more than 3,700 ballots had been issued as of Wednesday, surpassing the nearly 3,500 issued in 2010.
Clerks in Madison and Milwaukee also took the unusual step of opening on Memorial Day to allow people to cast absentee votes in person. Hundreds of people showed up. The line outside the Milwaukee clerk's office that morning snaked down the hall and around the corner.
Cathy Cunningham, a 50-year-old Milwaukee grocery store worker, chose to stand in line Monday because she plans to bang on doors on Election Day and tell people to vote.
"This is important to me," Cunningham said. "I want to get rid of Walker."
The story was similar in Republican areas, too. Rubina Medina, an assistant city clerk in Waukesha, said the office has been averaging 350 to 375 in-person voters per day.
Deb Radtke, a 59-year-old contract administrator who voted there Thursday, said she wanted to avoid huge lines on Election Day. She voted for Walker, saying recalls should be banned.
"If somebody wins, they win," she said. "If you don't like what they did, vote them out next time. I think (Walker has) done a good job so far. I don't see what Barrett has done for Milwaukee."
Walker enraged Democrats and their supporters last year when he used a Republican majority in the Legislature to pass a plan that effectively ended collective bargaining for most public workers. Walker insisted he had to make the move to balance the state budget; Democrats painted the measure as a calculated attack on organized labor.
Tens of thousands of people descended on the state Capitol in Madison to demonstrate against the measure for three weeks straight and minority Democrats in the state Senate fled to Illinois in an attempt to prevent a vote.
Republicans found a way to pass the bill without them, and Democrats have been looking for payback ever since. They gathered enough signatures this winter to force Walker and four other Republican officeholders into recall elections.
The GAB predicts 60 percent to 65 percent of people old enough to vote will cast ballots in the elections. That's more than the nearly 50 percent who participated in the 2010 election Walker won but less than the 69 percent who turned out in the 2008 presidential election.
Polls show a tight race between Walker and Barrett with few undecided voters. Both sides say the key to winning will be getting their supporters to the polls, and both campaigns have encouraged absentee voting.
Their efforts reflect a growing trend in politics, said Mark Graul, a campaign strategist who spearheaded Republican Mark Green's 2006 bid for governor.
"There is nothing more satisfying to campaigns than to be able to run lists of who voted absentee and see X number of your supporters have already voted," Graul said.
A host of other factors also contributed to absentee voting, including the fear of long lines on Tuesday and old-fashioned scheduling conflicts. The election falls in early June, just as school is letting out and families readjust their schedules for baseball, barbecues and baby sitters.
But Brandon Scholz, a Madison lobbyist who has worked on a number of GOP congressional campaigns across the country, cautioned against trying to predict the election's outcome based on absentee voting's popularity.
"It's to be expected. The intensity and exposure of this recall locally, statewide and nationally is going to push things like that," he said. "It's indicative of high interest on both sides. So call that a wash."
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Associated Press writer Dinesh Ramde in Milwaukee contributed to this report.
Jun 5, 2012 at 8:52 a.m.
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Walker, Walker, Walker, Walker, Walker!!!
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MOVING THE GREAT STATE OF WISCONSIN "FORWARD"
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FINALLY; FORWARD ------->
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PLEASE, PLEASE; LET'S NOT GO BACKWARDS, WISCONSIN WILL NOT BE ABLE TO BARRETT!!
Jun 2, 2012 at 9:13 p.m.
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Help-I can't remember why we're recalling Walker, was it because-
First-He made public workers pay a little on their own health and pension benefits?
Or He took away most of their collective bargaining privileges?
Or He took a fake phone call he thought was from a Koch brother?
Or He started a defence fund for an investigation he requested?
Or Because of this John Doe probe going on and he might be a lying,dirty crook?
Or Because he he told a donor he had a "divide and conquer" strategy?
Or Is it because he's not a Democrat and he actually did would he said he was going do and the shock was too much for the lefty's?
It changes every week so I can't remember anymore.
I hope Tuesday I will be told.
Jun 2, 2012 at 7:30 p.m.
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Those busses are sure scray to you aren't they, you must have been terrorized as a child, having to leave your mommy and go to that big bad place called a school.
Jun 2, 2012 at 5:27 p.m.
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The irony from the democrats/union supporters is this.. you seem to hate big business, but many of you have made a good living and retirement and Cadillac health care off the big businesses of Janesville and Rock County.. GM, Parker Pen, Morgan Corp, ABC Supply, SSI, teachers and others. Some are union and some are not. Many union workers are overpaid because they have seniority. Seniority does not give you the right to do less every year. I seen it in the military as well, some people seem to think that because they have been at a company for x amount of years they get it easier and easier. Not a good business plan in a global economy.
It's a performance based economy today. Perform each and every day or suffer the consequences. I have been in the military where the UCMJ ruled my work and life, and the UAW where drunk people put the brakes on trucks all night long (protected by the union). Maybe the unions should be more responsible and police their so called members.
I support Gov. Walker for challenging the unions and other "special interest groups".
Wisconsin needs jobs, and big businesses bring jobs. All of this recall garbage is driving businesses away. At least until Wednesday when Gov Walker will be re-elected.
Peace.
Jun 2, 2012 at 5:06 p.m.
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yada
why do you insist on linking Barrett lies, and suggest they are FACT?
Have you found a link that shows what BARRETT has for a plan? No, because he has none..."Wisconsin will fix itself".
Jun 2, 2012 at 2:27 p.m.
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Dwight, this is why it's so important that the Democrats take control of the Senate on Tuesday.
Do we really want a governor who said, "This is a slippery slope. In addition to that, at what point are we going to OK marrying inanimate objects? Can I marry this table, or this, you know, clock? Can we marry dogs?” - Rebecca Kleefisch on same sex marriage
Jun 2, 2012 at 2 p.m.
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Grand Jury just means you get Kleefisch. Enjoy :)
Jun 2, 2012 at 1:29 p.m.
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RECALL or GRAND JURY he is history. Wonderful
Jun 2, 2012 at 12:36 p.m.
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I voted early in Waukesha County and there were many others voting early as well. It's not just the liberal areas seeing high absentee voting.
Jun 2, 2012 at 12:35 p.m.
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I fail to see how people can vote the the man just named as the "most dishonest governor in America".
Jun 2, 2012 at 12:12 p.m.
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Repubs want corporate masters, you all must miss being slaves. Not every demo belongs to a union so I can't say demos like being union slaves, sorry.
I'm not either repub or demo.
I'm glad Act 10 was passed but not happy that it was rammed through, but I believe if the thug would have sat down like an adult and put it out there, the teachers would have agreed.
That is why I did NOT vote for walker Friday, he's just like the union thugs the repubs talk about. He's power drunk and he needs to be sobered up and will be come Tuesday night!
Jun 2, 2012 at 11:21 a.m.
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Walker has the only blueprint for success. The reforms are working.A vote for Walker is a vote for economic recovery.The nation is waiting. It will impact the whole country when free enterprise takes over the union powers.
Jun 2, 2012 at 10:59 a.m.
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"whining crybabies with their arms outstrertched..."
Moronic statement.
Jun 2, 2012 at 9:27 a.m.
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Shouldn't the pic be of somebody at their kitchen table filling out a ballot.
Jun 2, 2012 at 9:17 a.m.
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Oh Nurse...more mush for Fedup please.
Jun 2, 2012 at 6:56 a.m.
Jun 2, 2012 at 6:41 a.m.
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Let's eliminate business in the state... Vote for Tom Barrett.
Jun 2, 2012 at 6:38 a.m.
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For more taxes out of you're income, support Tom Barrett. I guarantee you're property taxes will be up in 2013. Look at Madison, Nerad has proposed a third of a BILLION dollar tax increase for the school district because they did not utilize ACT 10. With Barrett in offfice, we will enjoy these same benefits.
Jun 2, 2012 at 6:33 a.m.
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Walker lowered taxes, whatever statements Walker and Barrett have made, the proof is in the numbers. Taxes are lower and we have a surplus and job growth. In the last debate, Barrett did not respond to questions on his expensive tax burden trolley. I guess he likes the direction the city has taken. What plan has Barrett offered to help the state? A reversal of collective bargaining at the expense of the taxpayers. Now that's one plan we can do without.
Jun 2, 2012 at 5:59 a.m.
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The whining crybabies with their arms outstrertched with their palms up who didn't get their way when Walker won the Governorship are desperate now because with Walker leading in all of the polls are afraid they may have to contine to pay their own way.
Jun 2, 2012 at 5:46 a.m.
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POLITIFACT - All False Statements from Walker are LISTED for you - it comes out to 20 per cent of what he says is FALSE.
http://www.politifact.com/personalities/...
"Ex Walker Spokeswoman Given Immunity In John Doe Probe"
http://www.jsonline.com/blogs/news/15598...
Walker will NOT come clean on John Doe
http://www.jsonline.com/blogs/news/15572...
Walker will turn WI in a right to work state and refused to answer the question in final debabte - that means less money, benefits for working class. Walker has said he will kill all unions.
http://www.educationvotes.nea.org/2012/0...
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/mary-botta...
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