While Election Day is still four days away, a record number of people are turning out to vote early via absentee ballot. But with large crowds come long lines and some blunders.
University of Wisconsin senior Maggie Gau voted absentee this week after waiting in line for two-and-a-half hours at a Madison Clerk’s office.
After getting to the front of the line, she sat down with the poll worker only to find she was not properly registered.
Gau, who registered and voted in the primaries in March, was in the database under her old address from 2002. Having no mail or second identification on her, Gau was almost unable to vote.
“She was very helpful and very accommodating for how the lines where,” Gau said. “They verified my address. … That made me wonder: if they don’t have me registered (in the primaries), did they even count my ballot? Who else isn’t registered then?”
Other students experienced the long waits, including UW junior Ben Lueck, who waited for two hours, missing one of his classes.
“It was well worth it,” Lueck said. “I learned more voting and was a better person for going to vote than going to that class.”
One of the reasons so many people are getting out to vote early is due to the Get Out the Vote efforts by both the Democratic and Republican parties who are hoping to give their candidate one final boost to make it into the White House.
According to Nicole Derse, field director for the Obama campaign, they now have 480 active “Obama Teams” with more than 3,000 members who work more than 10 hours a week.
With the Get Out the Vote effort, the campaign is looking to step up its current efforts of phone calling and neighborhood canvassing to make sure everyone in the state is going to the polls Nov. 4.
“Get out the vote effort is going to reflect everything we have built,” Derse said. “We are looking forward to the next five days to bring this home.”
According to Kirsten Kukowski, communications director for the Republican Party of Wisconsin, the GOP is running a similar Get Out the Vote effort, by placing a special emphasis on the last 72 hours through intense campaigning in Wisconsin, as they have in past elections. Kukowski said this strategy might have been the key to President Bush’s victory in 2004.
“A lot of people say that’s what pushed people over the top in 2004,” Kukowski said. “Kerry looked like he had it handedly, and they gave a lot of credit to the RNC and Victory Program for pushing the numbers over the top.”
Their Get Out the Vote effort will also include intense phone banking until the polls close at 8 p.m. while also conducting door-to-door visits, offering voters rides to the polls and information about what to bring.
