Ballots cast at University of Wisconsin-Madison early voting locations including Memorial Union, Union South and Health Sciences Learning Center comprised nearly one out of every five in-person votes from Oct. 22 to Nov. 1 amid record citywide early vote turnout.
Roughly 11,000 in-person absentee ballots were submitted to campus polling places out of a citywide count of 56,227, more than double those in 2020, according to Madison Communications Manager Dylan Brogan. District 8 Ald. MGR Govindarajan told The Daily Cardinal that votes cast at Memorial Union and Union South on Friday made up more than a quarter of the citywide turnout that day.
UW-Madison students waited in lines as long as three hours to cast their ballots while locations saw statewide software errors and staffing shortages. Although sophomore Lila Becker noticed students leaving Memorial Union during the 90 minutes spent waiting to cast her vote, she told the Cardinal the overall atmosphere was “friendly” and had “good vibes”.
“I made friends with all the people around me,” Becker said. “Wisconsin is a swing state, so you know your vote actually really matters.”
UW-Madison College Democrats Communications Director Whitman Bottari told the Cardinal that College Dems canvassed multiple campus neighborhoods and helped students register to vote. Bottari said the high student turnout was an “incredibly exciting” testament to the power of organizing.
“Students know what's at stake in November. They’re informed, engaged and determined to make their voices heard in the most consequential election in modern American history,” Bottari said.
Polls open 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. Tuesday. Students can register and vote in Wisconsin as long as they have lived in the state for 28 days and can find their polling location on MyVote Wisconsin.
College News editor Noe Goldhaber contributed reporting to this story.
Sreejita Patra is a senior staff writer and the former summer ad sales manager for The Daily Cardinal. She has written for breaking news, campus news and arts and has done extensive reporting on the 2024 presidential race. She also covered the Oregon Village Board for the Oregon Observer.
