As of Election Day morning, 2,032 people had cast their ballots in Rhinelander via absentee voting. 4,378 people were already registered to vote, and people could still register to vote in person on Election Day.
Despite the high number of early voting, election workers at Rhinelander’s polling place said they saw a steady stream of people coming in all day.
“Even accounting for the absentee ballots which are a record, I think turnout has been high on top of that,” said Rhinelander Co-Chief Election Inspector Joel Knutson.
He says the voting has gone went well, especially for it being a new polling place and with COVID restrictions in place.
“People have been patient and it has been largely, beautifully seamless,” said Knutson.
Voters hands were sanitized before entering. Clear partitions separated voters from election workers. Almost all voters were wearing face coverings.
Some people chose to take advantage of curbside voting so they didn’t have to go inside.
Some voters WXPR spoke with chose to vote at the polls because that’s how they’ve always done it.
“Been doing it all my life,” said David O’Melia.
For others it was their first chance to get a look at the Rhinelander Dome. This is the first major event for the newly constructed dome at Rhinelander High School.
“I actually really wanted to see the dome, but I also think it’s important people cast their ballots at the time everybody else is,” said Stephanie Kuski.
No what brought them to the polls or how they chose to cast their ballots, voters in the 2020 Presidential Election are making their voices heard.
