Wisconsin set the state record Friday for the number of votes cast before Election Day, with the number still expected to grow.
More than 775,000 early votes, or 96 percent of the total early votes sent, have been received by election officials so far. This exceeds the total number of early votes in 2012 by nearly 111,000 and total early votes in 2008 by over 128,000, according to the state Elections Commission statistics.
The vast majority of early voters cast their ballots in person, followed by those who sent early votes in by mail.
Early voting has been consistently popular among Wisconsin voters. The unprecedented early voting numbers this year have been driven by a surge of voters especially in Dane County, a historically Democratic stronghold, and Fox Valley, where the congressional race was heated.
The number of early votes in another Democratic stronghold, Milwaukee County, set a new record as well, although not as large as that of Dane County. Green Bay and Appleton have also seen large increases in early voting turnout.
Wisconsin's traditionally ultra-conservative "WOW" counties, Waukesha, Ozaukee and Washington, also had notable turnout in terms of early voting, exceeding the total early voting number of both 2012 and 2008.
With early voting turnout large in Democratic counties, Republican candidates in statewide elections will potentially face trouble Nov. 8., although the number of ballots received on Election Day typically outweighs the number of early votes.
