Absentee voting opens in Wisconsin 2026

Originally published by Racine County Eye.

Voting in Wisconsin’s midterm elections has officially begun. Local clerks across the state were required to send absentee ballots to voters with valid requests already on file by Thursday, Sept. 17.

Data from the Wisconsin Elections Commission shows that 299,849 absentee ballots have already been requested and 4,309 have already been returned.

The first absentee ballots were sent after months of wrangling by the administration of President Donald Trump to restrict ballots sent through the mail. While the court system thwarted that effort, concerns about the timely return of absentee ballots through the mail remain.

Absentee ballots must be returned to a voter’s local election clerk by the time polls close on Election Day, Nov. 3. To give ballots enough time, election officials have recommended they be placed in the mail at least 10 days before Election Day. WEC Administrator Meagan Wolfe recently changed that recommended deadline to 14 days before Election Day, or Oct. 20.

Voters can also return their absentee ballots directly to their municipal clerk’s office, take it to their polling place on Election Day or, in communities that use them, drop their ballots in an official municipal absentee ballot drop box.

In Racine County, ballots go back to your own municipal clerk rather than the county. Racine County Eye has already walked through how to request, complete and return an absentee ballot here, and City of Racine Clerk Tara McMenamin explained how mail-in voting actually works — tracking, chain of custody, military and provisional ballots, and voter ID.

Early in-person absentee voting will open Oct. 20. Hours and locations for early voting and returning mailed absentee ballots can be found on municipal clerk websites.

Racine County Eye’s guide to how to vote in Racine County covers registration, photo ID and what to do if something goes wrong at the polls. For what happens to a ballot after it is returned, see how absentee ballots are handled and counted and which parts of the count the public is allowed to watch.

The biggest race on the ballot in Wisconsin this year is the open race for governor between Democratic Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley and Republican U.S. Rep. Tom Tiffany. Wisconsin’s eight congressional seats, 99 state Assembly seats and 16 state Senate seats are also up for election. Control of the Legislature is up for grabs for the first time in more than 15 years.

Voters will also decide statewide races for attorney general, treasurer and secretary of state and will vote on three proposed constitutional amendments. The constitutional amendments would prohibit state and local governments from instituting diversity, equity and inclusion policies, prevent government edicts closing places of worship during emergencies and limit the governor’s line-item veto authority.

Voters can see the candidates and referendum questions on their ballots at MyVote.WI.gov. Racine County voters can also read our coverage of each race on their ballot:

• Governor: Crowley vs. Tiffany
• 1st Congressional District: Steil vs. Berman
• 21st Senate District: Croft vs. Jung
• 11th Senate District: Wiedmeyer vs. Duda
• 33rd Assembly District: Wicklund vs. Bisabarros
• Racine County sheriff: Madrigal vs. Vandervest
• Attorney general: Kaul vs. Toney

The full Racine County Voter Guide has deadlines, polling places and photo ID rules for the Nov. 3 election, along with why results can change after election night.