In the 2020 elections, well over half of voters used early voting options, both nationwide and in Wisconsin. Although early voting could increase in a presidential year like 2024, it’s still a lot of ground to make up, at least in Wisconsin.
"Over 50% of all voters are going to be voting before Election Day this cycle," Whatley said, saying early voting would help the party be more efficient and use its resources to reach people who haven’t yet voted. Going back to Whatley’s estimate: Well over 50% of voters used early voting methods in 2020. That’s not to say it’ll be the same in 2024, but we’ll get into that later.
So, that’s a slight dampening of the trend, even across 2020. But it’s still a much different picture than the elections prior to 2020, when between 73% and 89% voted at the polls, rather than using early methods. But absentee voting has trended downward in the last two years, commission data shows. In the April 2023 election, when a state Supreme Court seat was on the ballot, approximately 25% voted early.
His claim might be a bit of a stretch. In two of Wisconsin’s higher-turnout elections since 2020, early voting was about 29% and 25%. Last month, it was also around 25%. Those aren’t presidential elections, though.