Rain on Election Day could affect voter turnout

Voters can expect steady rain and wind on Election Day.

Political expert at UW-Madison, Professor Barry Burden, said there are several academic studies on voter turnout and weather.

”Studies generally find that precipitation on Election Day decreases voter turnout. Statistical analysis shows that significant rain or snow can reducing Election Day voting by a couple of percentage points. This could be enough to affect the outcome of a close election,” Burden said.

However, he said more recent studies show that rain affects turnout only when the election is not competitive.

“When races are close - as the Wisconsin’s governor’s race is - rain does not affect turnout at all,” he said.

Reid Magney, with the Wisconsin Elections Commission, said they do have protocols in place if there is severe weather, such as a flood or power outage.

”90 percent of the ballots cast in Wisconsin are paper ballots, and so you can always mark a paper ballot. If the voting equipment is down it can go in an auxiliary bin. When they have power later they can run through the machines,” Magney said.

Even with a gloomy forecast in store for Tuesday, early voting seems to have taken off in Dane County. Dane County Clerk Scott McDonell said that as of Thursday they had 60,000 early votes cast.

"If it's raining hard or snowing hard that will reduce turnout a little bit. I think that is why people are trending towards early voting. It's not always clear early voting means more votes. There could be a shift going on," McDonell said.

Magney said voters seem energized, and have exceeded the number of absentee ballots cast in the last midterms. Rain or shine on Election Day it will be a tight race, and every vote counts, Magney said.

Polls are open from 7 a.m. to 8 pm. on Tuesday, Nov. 6. To find out where your polling locations are, your voting history and more visit