With days to go until Wisconsin's August primary, a new poll reveals a stark partisan divide in voter confidence — and the election workers at the center of it are pushing back.
A recent bipartisan Democracy Defense Project poll found that 91% of Wisconsin Democrats say they are very or somewhat confident votes will be accurately cast and counted this November. Among Republicans, that number drops to 46%.
The same poll asked respondents whether election workers and officials are important community volunteers who count votes fairly and need to do their jobs without interference — or whether they are more partisan than they would have you believe and need to be monitored so they don't try to influence elections.
Among Republicans, 71% concluded election workers are more partisan and should be monitored. Among Democrats, 93% viewed them as important volunteers.
Watch: What Wisconsin leaders in a blue city and red county say about election integrity
Paulina Gutierrez oversees elections in Milwaukee, the state's largest city. She said community interest in participating in election day work has been strong.
"We have been seeing really active requests and participation of wanting to be part of the election process here in our community," Gutierrez said.
City election workers earn $220 for a full day that begins at 6 a.m. and runs until after the polls close.
In Washington County — one of the state's reddest counties — Republican clerk Ashley Reichert said her office has conducted audits of election results since 2018, not because of problems, but to provide voters an additional layer of confidence in the totals. Hourly pay for election inspectors in the county ranges from $9 to $14 depending on their role.
"We do random audits after every election and then a full countywide audit after every general, and so we have proven in regards to the actual vote count that those are accurate," Reichert said.
The Democracy Defense Project poll also found sharp divisions on specific election concerns. Among Republicans, 88% said they are very concerned about non-citizens voting, compared to 2% of Democrats.
Among Democrats, 78% said they are very concerned about the deployment of the National Guard or ICE at polling places, compared with 5% of Republicans.
When asked directly whether non-citizens are voting in Washington County, Reichert said she is not aware of any such cases.
"To my knowledge, I am not aware of any non-citizens voting in Washington County. If any voters were to be flagged, things would be forwarded to our district attorney's office for review and potential charges because that is a felony," Reichert said.
Reichert added that audits serve as a safeguard against any potential misconduct.
"We do our audits and review to ensure that if there are bad actors, we will hold them accountable," Gutierrez said.
Despite the divisions, the poll found areas of potential common ground. Nearly 80% of respondents support secure, statewide regulations for drop boxes. Nearly half support some form of early tabulation for in-person ballots — which currently cannot be counted until Election Day under Wisconsin law.
Former Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett, now on the Democracy Defense Project's leadership team, supports changes to state law that would allow communities to begin processing — though not counting — absentee ballots 24 to 48 hours before Election Day.
Barrett has previously appeared on the ballot as a state lawmaker, congressional candidate, mayor, and gubernatorial candidate.
"What's missing is a simple change in the state law that has widespread bipartisan support. That would allow those communities like Milwaukee, and there's dozens of other communities, to not begin counting the ballots, but to process them, to get them prepared to let them do that 24, 48 hours ahead of time," Barrett said.
This story was reported on-air by Charles Benson and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy
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