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State Official: Tuesday’s Special Election ‘In Much Better Shape’ Than Chaotic April Voting

Ben Meyer/WXPR

Municipal clerks and state voting administrators are “in much better shape” going into next Tuesday’s special congressional election in northern Wisconsin.

That’s compared to April’s chaotic spring voting.

More than 107,000 voters in Wisconsin’s 7th Congressional District have requested an absentee ballot for Tuesday’s election between Republican Tom Tiffany and Democrat Tricia Zunker. About 60 percent of the ballots have already been returned.

Like in April, in-person voting will also move forward on Tuesday.

Wisconsin Elections Commission spokesperson Reid Magney said preparations have been smoother than in April’s statewide election.

“We’ve been through this once before now, and it’s present in our recent memories. We know what we have to do. There hasn’t been any confusion about changing deadlines and litigation. We’ve been through this once and we know that we can do it,” Magney said.

According to Magney, 240 National Guard members will be available to help at the polls, although not all of them may be needed.

For voters still wishing to avoid the polls, absentee ballots must be received by clerks by Tuesday.

People can also vote early in-person.

“There may be opportunities on Friday. Probably Friday would be the last day for most people if you wanted to vote in-person absentee at your clerk’s office. I would check with the clerk’s office before heading down there just to make sure when they’re open and what’s happening,” Magney said.

The winner of Tuesday’s election will fill the seat vacated by Republican Sean Duffy.

Ben worked as the Special Topics Correspondent at WXPR from September 2019 until November 2021. He now contributes occasionally to WXPR. During his full-time employment, his main focus was reporting on environment and natural resources issues in northern Wisconsin and Michigan's Upper Peninsula as part of The Stream, a weekly series.
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