Elections in Wisconsin are by and large going smoothly. I visited the Leisure Center in Menomonie and the polls in Town of Dunn. Both reported that things have been going well, and that they had a very big rush of voters when they opened, but since early morning the traffic has been typical. Town of Dunn reported that they had 620 early absentee ballots filed, and about 200 people had voted in person as of about 1 PM today.

We received two important election updates this afternoon from the Wisconsin Elections Commission that may answer many questions about the election Tuesday, and particularly on spoiling ballots.

The Elections Commission is currently holding a media briefing on the election - the video is available below.

The Menomonie Area Chamber of Commerce and the Greater Chippewa Valley Chapter of the League of Women Voters are soliciting questions from area residents for candidates running for state senate and assembly races to be used in upcoming online forum events.

"Candidate forums seem particularly appropriate and needed at this time when opportunities for candidates to share their views with voters are so limited," said Susan Hall, a vice-president of the local League.

The League of Women Voters of the Greater Chippewa Valley (LWV-GCV) will present a voter forum for the general public, "Casting Your Vote in Wisconsin----Get Ready!" via zoom on Tuesday, August 25, 2020 at 7 p.m.   

The status of the April 7 election continues to change. Late yesterday the 7th District Court of Appeals responded to the emergency appeal posed by the state, and national Republican Parties, as well as the appeal from Republicans in the state legislature. The court refused to stay the order from Judge William Conley to change the cutoff date for the return of absentee ballots in the state, which was the main point of conjecture in the appeals.

Life is full of uncertainty at the moment. The Wisconsin Elections Commission is recommending that if you want to vote in the April 7 election you should consider voting with an absentee ballot in case you are unable to vote in person or choose not to go to your polling place from health concerns.

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Now that you have voted - you have voted, right? you are probably wondering how you find out who won. State-wide, the AP collects data from various counties and reports results. Many news organizations in the state are AP members, and so will have access to the returns. If you are interested in local results, it's usually fastest to look at the elections on your own county website. We've listed some of our favorite links below.

“I talked with a group of women in Galesville,” my friend Mary Lee told me. “They were full of questions about the election, like when is it, where do I vote, how do I find out if I’m registered?” Mary is one of many folks helping to make sure people know and when to vote.