Voting in Wisconsin Brief

January 19, 2006

This brief examines the voting process in Milwaukee and Wisconsin. Wisconsin had the second highest voter turnout rate among all states during the 2004 election. Almost all voting machines in Wisconsin use paper ballots or optical scan ballots, the two voting systems that are recommended by most empirical studies. While there were some sporadic long wait times to vote in Milwaukee during the 2004 Presidential election, data analysis indicates that very few people were apparently discouraged from voting due to the lines.

Currently, there is no rigorous method of assigning voting machines and ballots in Milwaukee, they are assigned based on an educated guess; this method has caused significant problems in other states when there is high turnout. Poor record keeping has also hampered investigations into fraud allegations. One proposed anti-fraud policy, requiring voters to present photo identification, is examined.