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Dominic Davis, Ward 29 chief inspector, left, and volunteer poll worker Ken Lund, right, set up a "vote here" flag as polls open during Election Day, Nov. 5, 2024, at Madison East High School in Madison, Wis. (Joe Timmerman / Wisconsin Watch)
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Election Day involves more than quickly marking a ballot and anxiously awaiting election returns.
Filing dispatches from across Wisconsin during Tuesday’s general election, our reporters examined how residents participated in the democratic process. Voters and election workers brought joy, angst and purpose to the polls.
In some cases images told their stories more powerfully than words.
Here is the best of Wisconsin Watch’s photography from Election Day, portraits of what we saw and who we met.
Jonathan Walton, Ward 29 chief Inspector, middle, makes an announcement as the polls open on Election Day on Nov. 5, 2024, at Madison East High School in Madison, Wis. (Joe Timmerman / Wisconsin Watch)
Volunteer poll worker Seth McClure hands a ballot to Lisa Wilber of Madison, right, during Election Day on Nov. 5, 2024, at Madison East High School in Madison, Wis. (Joe Timmerman / Wisconsin Watch)
Elliot Chmura-Moore helps his father, Dylan, submit his ballot. It was the 20th vote submitted on Election Day, Nov. 5, 2024, at the Oshkosh Public Library polling place in Oshkosh, Wis. (Julius Shieh / Wisconsin Watch)
Shane Worden, one of the first 20 voters of the day at the Oshkosh Public Library in Oshkosh, Wis., gives a thumbs up to a poll worker after inserting his ballot into a voting machine. (Julius Shieh / Wisconsin Watch)
Election workers count ballots at Green Bay Central Count in the Green Bay City Hall building on Nov. 5, 2024. (Julius Shieh / Wisconsin Watch)
An observer leans back and watches while election workers count ballots at Green Bay Central Count in the Green Bay City Hall building on Nov. 5, 2024. (Julius Shieh / Wisconsin Watch)
Town of Westfield poll worker Frank Traina assists fellow poll worker and chief election inspector Lacey Baumann as she casts her ballot on Nov. 5, 2024, at Westfield Town Hall in Marquette County, Wis. (Bennet Goldstein / Wisconsin Watch)
UW-Oshkosh students Adam Ketter, left, and Jacob Young spent the day as poll workers. Students and community members voted at the Culver Family Welcome Center at UW-Oshkosh in Oshkosh, Wis., on Nov. 5, 2024. (Julius Shieh / Wisconsin Watch)
A voter heads to the polls on Election Day on Nov. 5, 2024, at Mary Ryan Boys & Girls Club in Milwaukee. (Joe Timmerman / Wisconsin Watch)
A ballot is temporarily stuck in the tabulation machine during Election Day on Nov. 5, 2024, at Milwaukee Central Count at the Baird Center in Milwaukee. (Joe Timmerman / Wisconsin Watch)Jefferson Davis, a Republican election observer, left, and Republican Party of Milwaukee County Chairman Hilario Deleon, right, talk to each other after learning that the doors of the tabulation machines were not properly sealed during Election Day on Nov. 5, 2024, at Milwaukee Central Count at the Baird Center in Milwaukee. (Joe Timmerman / Wisconsin Watch)Alvonia Missouri of Milwaukee, joined by her great-grandchildren, Tyriah Smith, 5, left, and Tyron Smith, 7, right, registers to vote during Election Day on Nov. 5, 2024, at Mary Ryan Boys & Girls Club in Milwaukee. (Joe Timmerman / Wisconsin Watch)
Sharon Brown, a volunteer poll worker, center, helps Iyana Simpson, 21, right, prepare to vote for her first time during Election Day on Nov. 5, 2024, at the Clinton & Bernice Rose Senior Center in Milwaukee. (Joe Timmerman / Wisconsin Watch)Volunteer poll worker Beverly Cooley cheers after helping Jayvonte Wingard, 18, right, vote for his first time on Election Day, Nov. 5, 2024, at the Clinton & Bernice Rose Senior Center in Milwaukee. (Joe Timmerman / Wisconsin Watch)Devin Hildebrand casts a ballot as his daughter Ivy, 2, wears a voting sticker from her mother, Lily, at Green Isle Pavilion in Allouez, Wis., on Nov. 5, 2024. (Julius Shieh / Wisconsin Watch)Voters cast their ballots at Allouez Village Hall in Allouez, Wis., on the evening of Nov. 5, 2024. (Julius Shieh / Wisconsin Watch)Paulina Gutiérrez, executive director of the Milwaukee Election Commission, prepares to clear the flash drives used to store the final vote count during Election Day on Nov. 5, 2024, at Milwaukee Central Count at the Baird Center in Milwaukee. (Joe Timmerman / Wisconsin Watch)
Election workers count ballots on Election Day, Nov. 5, 2024, at Milwaukee Central Count at the Baird Center in Milwaukee. (Joe Timmerman / Wisconsin Watch)
Election workers count ballots during Election Day on Nov. 5, 2024, at Milwaukee Central Count at the Baird Center in Milwaukee. (Joe Timmerman / Wisconsin Watch)
People cheer as 8th Congressional District candidate Tony Wied makes a victory speech at the Legacy Hotel in Green Bay, Wis., on Nov. 5, 2024. (Julius Shieh / Wisconsin Watch)
An attendee of 8th Congressional District candidate Tony Wied’s election night gathering is seen at the Legacy Hotel on Nov. 5, 2024, in Green Bay, Wis. (Julius Shieh / Wisconsin Watch)
Tony Wied celebrates his 8th Congressional District victory at the Legacy Hotel in Green Bay, Wis., on Nov. 5, 2024. (Julius Shieh / Wisconsin Watch)
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Photos: What Wisconsin’s democracy looked like on Election Day
by Joe Timmerman / Wisconsin Watch, Julius Shieh / Wisconsin Watch and Bennet Goldstein / Wisconsin Watch, Wisconsin Watch November 6, 2024
Joe Timmerman is Wisconsin Watch’s staff photojournalist via Report for America. Previously, he interned at the Indianapolis Star, The Texas Tribune and the Cincinnati Enquirer. A native of Loveland, Ohio, Timmerman graduated from Ohio University in 2023 with dual degrees in visual communication and journalism. His work has been recognized by the William Randolph Hearst Foundation, the National Press Photographers Foundation, the Ohio News Photographers Association and the National Association of Television Arts and Sciences.
Julius Shieh joined Wisconsin Watch in June 2024 as an intern through the Scripps Howard Fund, reporting with the Northeast Wisconsin News Lab collaboration. Prior to joining, he was an intern and freelancer based out of Austin, Texas, working with KUT/KUTX Austin, The Texas Tribune and KTBC-7 Austin. He holds a BA in English and history from the University of Texas at Austin, where he reported for three years and served as photo editor at The Daily Texan, UT Austin’s student newspaper.
Bennet Goldstein reports on water and agriculture as Wisconsin Watch’s Report for America representative on the Mississippi River Basin Ag & Water Desk — a collaborative reporting network across the Basin. Before this, Goldstein was on the breaking news team at the Omaha World-Herald in Nebraska. He has spent most of his career at daily papers in Iowa, including the Dubuque Telegraph Herald. Goldstein’s work has garnered awards, including the Associated Press Media Editors award for an explanatory feature about a police shooting in rural Wisconsin, and an Iowa Newspaper Association award for a series that detailed the impacts of the loss of social safety net programs on Dubuque’s Marshallese community. He holds a master’s degree from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.