With a few notable exceptions, Election Day in Wisconsin went off without any indications of widespread voter suppression or voter fraud.

According to partisan and independent sources, despite earlier worries by some state Democrats, all indications seem to point to an election virtually free of voter suppression in Wisconsin. At the same time, earlier concerns of voter fraud held by Republicans also appear not to have materialized.

The few known incidents of voter fraud that tainted an otherwise seamless Election Day occurred mostly in Milwaukee, where allegations of voter fraud led to a challenge of seven absentee ballots by the Milwaukee Police Department. According to the Associated Press, questions about the ballots’ legitimacy arose during an ongoing criminal investigation.

Also in Milwaukee a poll worker who opened an absentee ballot reportedly recognized the name on the ballot as a person who died several months ago.

Kirsten Kukowski, communications director for the Republican Party of Wisconsin, said most problems elsewhere were due to special election observers she said were overbearing at the polls.

“We have had some reports of overzealous elections observers,” Kukowski said. “Some of them apparently didn’t know their role in the polling station and overstepped their bounds.”

Last week, some Democrats were concerned that special observers dispatched by state Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen would amount to voter suppression in highly Democratic areas.

According to Government Accountability Board spokesperson Kyle Richmond, this did not seem to be the case.

“Things appear to be going very smoothly,” Richmond said late Tuesday afternoon.

Another troublesome incident arose when a text message was sent to supporters of presidential candidate Barack Obama that told them to vote Wednesday because of long lines at the polls.

Ald. Eli Judge, District 8, who also serves as a volunteer for University of Wisconsin Students for Obama, said the text message reached several people he knew and likely many more.

Judge called the text message “a disgusting attempt at voter suppression.”

Students for Obama countered the erroneous text message by sending a clarification text to Obama supporters saying Tuesday was the only day to vote.

Judge said he and other Students for Obama volunteers were made aware of the text sometime around 3 p.m. after a volunteer showed him the text message. Judge said signs point to the text message problem traveling beyond Wisconsin, adding they could not determine where the text message originated.

“We didn’t have any time to find out where the text was coming from,” Judge said.

Matt Lehrich, spokesperson for Obama’s Wisconsin campaign, said steps were being taken to find those responsible for the text message.

“We are aware of the text message and have referred the incident to law enforcement,” Lehrich said. “We tried our best to get the message out to our supporters that the text message was not true.”