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Can Wisconsin voters in central count communities return absentee ballots to polling places?

By Hope Karnopp
NO

Voters living in the 38 central count communities — including Milwaukee, Green Bay, Beloit and Janesville—cannot return absentee ballots to their polling places on Election Day, according to the Wisconsin Elections Commission. Central counting involves transporting absentee ballots from all wards to a central location for tabulation instead of at each polling place.

The ballots should instead be returned to the local municipal clerk's office or the central count facility by 8 p.m.

For example, Milwaukee voters can drop off their ballots in Room 501 of City Hall, 200 E. Wells St., or at the central count location at the Wisconsin Center District. Ballots should be dropped at the corner of Vel R. Phillips and Wisconsin Avenue.

A full list of villages, towns and cities that use central count facilities to process absentee ballots is available here: https://elections.wi.gov/central-count-absentee-ballot-municipalities

Voters in those communities who have not turned in or mailed their absentee ballots can still vote at their polling place on Election Day. 

This fact brief is responsive to conversations such as this one.
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Wisconsin Watch, the news arm of the nonpartisan, nonprofit Wisconsin Center for Investigative Journalism, increases the quality and quantity of investigative reporting in Wisconsin, while training current and future investigative journalists. Its work fosters an informed citizenry and strengthens democracy.
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