The 2024 elections have come and gone, and as evidenced by the outpouring from across the region one thing has become clear: The security we have put in place to protect our elections has done the job we wanted it to.
Election workers and clerks from across the county did an outstanding job of managing the voter turnout, including the large number of absentee ballots that could not be processed before Election Day. In Milwaukee, election officials were able to reveal, and immediately announce the recount of some absentee ballots after public consultation with Republicans and Democrats.
Concepts: Voting was difficult going to the polls. Readers said they had a smooth sailing.
The election, by all accounts, was well-run across the state. But America should set an example for every nation in the world, and there is always room for improvement.
Voters trust election leaders and support ID laws
I joined RightCount earlier this year to work with startups, veterans, business owners, farmers and Wisconsinites from all walks of life to protect the integrity of our elections and find ways to improve our system moving forward.
Partnerships like this allow us to connect directly with voters and identify areas of concern in the election process, something RightCount did earlier this year. They found that voters trusted their election officials, but not those in other districts, cities, or regions.
Concepts: The election has shown that we are more divided than ever. Repairs can be found in farm fields.
Voters believed in voter ID, in having transparent procedures, in having ballot papers to keep a complete record of the vote – things we do a lot in Wisconsin but need to communicate to the public effectively.
Our decisions were made safe and sound in 2024, but without constant review and improvement, we will be the focus of bad actors who threaten to upend our government system.
A bipartisan bill would allow for pre-registration of absentee ballots
The easiest first step we can take is to begin processing absentee ballots before Election Day. This year, more than 1.5 million Wisconsinites voted before election day, and 950 of those were first-person absentee ballots. This is a healthy sign for our region and our nation, making more voices and more opportunities to vote for those who cannot be at their polling place on Election Day, for whatever reason. But if election workers can’t process these ballots before Election Day, it will force the hands of leaders across the state.
If we can pass legislation to fix early voting, you can say goodbye to the “night polls” that have become notorious over time and fuel conspiracies across the country. Instead of those votes arriving in the dead of night and doubting the results, we would know in advance as the tabulators would have already gone through the polls by the time the polls closed.
Text: Hovde’s election claims are false. He is accusing Milwaukee – without evidence.
The Campaigns and Elections Committee in the State Assembly has put in place a plan for two electoral reforms to address concerns like this in the previous legislative session. Our recommended reforms included ballot reform, stricter overseas voting laws to prevent fraud, stronger protections for our election officials, and prevention of polling station closures. It’s past time to pass these good government reforms and make sure we’re doing everything we can to protect the voices of Wisconsin voters.
Although I wish that many of these improvements would have already been at this point of choice to avoid any claims of inappropriateness, there is no better time than now to continue to improve. The 2024 Wisconsin general election was a success, the results show a 50/50 state of our state, and I am proud to lead the charge to make one of our state’s top elections strong for years to come. Join me in calling for the state to amend this piece of legislation to end doubt about the integrity of Wisconsin’s elections once and for all.
Scott Krug, R-Wisconsin Rapids, is the chairman of the Assembly Campaigns and Elections Committee.
This article originally appeared on the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Wisconsin election changes would bring more security | The view