Updated at 5:10 p.m. CT
Tuesday is the fall partisan primary election in Wisconsin. Races include primaries for house seats, state assembly seats and even-numbered state senate seats.
This is Wisconsin’s second statewide election since the coronavirus pandemic. Poll workers in Milwaukee are wearing protective equipment and working behind plexiglass shields. And the city’s polling sites are offering curbside voting for people experiencing COVID-19 symptoms – and those who’ve come into contact with people who are ill.
The April election was a messy affair. Some municipalities, including Milwaukee, had to shut down polling sites after workers refused to show up out of fear of contracting the virus. In fact, Milwaukee only had five large polling places. On Tuesday, there are about 170.
Concerns about safety are on the minds of many voters, so thousands stayed home, requesting mail-in absentee ballots. But at Burleigh Elementary School in Brookfield, there was a steady stream of voters late this morning.
Ron Woolsey was among them. He says he's a veteran, and he went to the polls to help "get the country back to where it should be."
“They aren’t even earning their keep in Washington, D.C., anymore. All they do is just bicker and complain and try to get the president out of office and that’s not right,” he says.
Woolsey says he's interested in all issues, including getting kids back to school.
Poll workers at Hampton Elementary School in Milwaukee took a number of measures to ensure the safety of workers and voters today.
Chief Inspector Jenny Lewis says, “We have sanitizers and gloves and masks, and you get a pen to work with and we have shields up, and we’ve tried to make it as safe as possible. So, we’d love you to come out to vote.”
There were no lines at Hampton Elementary midday, and Lewis says the voting process was moving along just fine.
Over at Washington High School on North Sherman Boulevard, Callie Anderson of Milwaukee says things were quiet and “effortless” when she voted today.
“There isn’t anyone in there. Just walked in there, gave them my information, and they did what they had to do, I did what I had to do. Me and my grandkids, we’re back out the door,” she says.
Anderson says she sees voting as essential, no matter who wins, and there was no question that she’d head to the polls, with her 10- and 13-year-old grandchildren in tow.
Once available, you can find the election results here.
