What is Central Count?

On Election Day the City of Milwaukee counts all of its absentee ballots in one central location known as Central Count. 

This means all absentee ballots cast in Milwaukee are securely processed and counted at one central location rather than at individual polling places. Milwaukee is one of 42 municipalities in Wisconsin that currently use Central Count. Because of this, absentee ballots are not accepted at individual polling locations. 

Before Election Day, as absentee ballots arrive to our secure operations center, they are carefully reviewed to confirm the certificate envelope is properly completed and tied to an official absentee ballot application and a legitmate voter. They are scanned into the state system and then sorted by ward and last name.

Absentee ballots remain sealed in their certificate envelope in our locked and secure ballot room under 24-hour surveillance.

Voters can check the status of their absentee ballot on MyVote.wi.gov. You can also check local and statewide absentee ballot statistics on WEC's website.

As early as 7 a.m. on Election Day, election workers will conduct another check to determine qualification, and if the certificate envelope qualifies they will begin opening and processing absentee ballots. Any certificate envelope that does NOT qualify will NOT be counted. Once ballots are opened and assigned a voter number they will be processed through our high-speed tabulation machines. These machines function in the same way as the machines at our polilng locations, however, they work a lot faster and require a manual download.

When counting is complete, results are downloaded to a secure datastick and transported by the bipartisan Board of Election Commissioners and the Executive Team of the Milwaukee Election Commissioner under police escort to the Milwaukee County Election Commission for reporting to the public.

Because Milwaukee processes a very large number of absentee ballots, counting can take many hours—often more than 14 hours. For this reason, absentee ballot totals are reported much later than the results from individual polling places. This timing reflects the care and security built into the process and helps ensure that every eligible absentee ballot is counted.

Can I watch Central Count in person?

Yes! The voting process is always open to the public. The review of qualification, the opening, processing and counting of ballots is all open to the public. Anyone can come and watch Democracy in action. As an observer, you play a critical role in protecting Democracy. There are specific rules to follow and you must comply with the direction of the Chief Inspectors. Regardless, your presence is important and you are always welcome! To find out hours of operation and where Central Count will be located, you'll need to visit our Official Notices section.

Unofficial Absentee Ballot Totals are typically posted starting on the Thursday before Election Day.

The next election is August 11, 2026.

For more IPAV statistics, visit our early voting site.

For recent unofficial election results, visit our unofficial election results site.

For official election results, visit our official election results site.

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