Absentee voting in Wisconsin began Monday, and although ballots arrived a few hours late in Dane County, they are now available to be mailed and distributed.
According to Wendy Barton of the Dane County Clerk's Office, the ballots did not arrive in Dane County until 2 p.m., but only a few people requesting ballots earlier in the day had to be turned away.
UW-Madison political science professor Charles Franklin said convenience plays a large role in a student's decision to vote absentee or at the polls.
Candidates, on the other hand, have an incentive to encourage absentee voting because such votes equate to votes in the bag"" that can make up for supporters who fail to show up on Election Day, according to Franklin.
He said this is the case for the campaign of Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama at the moment, since he is currently experiencing a surge of support.
UW-Madison political science professor Kenneth Mayer said despite Madison's large student population, the absentee voting rate is generally low due to the ease of registration at the polls in Wisconsin.
Mayer said it is easier for students on this campus to register at the polls than to fill out an absentee ballot and absentee voting is usually not very significant in terms of influence on the outcome of an election.
""The effects of absentee ballots are most likely to be seen where the amount of decisive votes are only a few thousand,"" Mayer said.
Franklin said because early voting and absentee ballots now account for roughly a third of the votes in presidential elections, absentee voting is coming to play a more significant role nationally, even if it is less so in Wisconsin due to high levels of voter turnout on Election Day.
UW-Madison political science professor Barry Burden said absentee and early voting essentially make Election Day a month long, and this leads campaigns to begin advertising earlier to win these early votes.
To vote absentee, a request for an application for an absentee ballot must be made through the County Clerk's office.
