TOWN OF MIDDLETON, Wis. — Election officials in the Town of Middleton said Wednesday the hours-long wait to vote at the Town Hall on Election Day was due to an “unprecedented” number of in-person voters.
Several people waited hours for their chance to vote in the Town of Middleton, with lines extending outside of the building. In accordance with state law, everyone in line to vote by 8 p.m. was allowed to vote. As of 10 p.m. Tuesday night, there were still people in line waiting to cast their ballots.
One viewer, Karen Steiner, reported being in line for a total of two hours and 55 minutes before she was able to cast her vote but said the line was friendly and enthusiastic despite the wait.
Town of Middleton Clerk Barbara Roesslein said Wednesday that election workers and town officials appreciate the kind words and support they received as they were being inundated with a number of voters they had never seen before.
Roesslein said the Town of Middleton saw 4,838 people vote in the 2020 presidential election, with 1,047 of those people voting in person. Preliminary numbers for this year’s election show 3,823 people in the Town voted, but 1,919 voted in person — nearly double the 2020 number of in-person voters.
In an e-mail to News 3 Now on Tuesday night, Dane County Clerk Scott McDonell said a shortage of poll workers in the area was a factor in the wait times.
The Town Board did increase the number of poll workers to work ahead of this year’s election, anticipating a higher demand, but Roesslin said the Town Board will continue to explore options in the future to make sure people don’t have to wait as long in the future.
The Town of Middleton only had two voting machines available on Tuesday, and election workers were left trying to process 294 voters per hour.
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