MADISON, Wis. (SPECTRUM NEWS) — Don’t wait up for Wisconsin election results on November 3. Clerks from around the state want everyone to know it’ll take longer to count ballots this time around.

Clerks from Dane, Milwaukee, and Waukesha counties want Wisconsinites to be prepared to go to bed on election night not knowing who won the Badger State.

It’s not because of a problem, it’s not because of anything nefarious. They know well ahead of time it’ll take a bit to count the votes, and they want to set that expectation for everyone else. It’ll likely take at least into the morning of November 4, if not longer.

“I’m anticipating it being very similar to other elections, other than the fact that it’ll take longer to process absentees,” said Dane County Clerk Scott McDonell.

Those absentee ballots are the complicating factor. More than 1.3 million Wisconsinites have requested one so far. That’s about 45 percent of the total votes cast in Wisconsin in 2016.

“In Dane County, we would normally have one out of 10 ballots via mail and absentee,” McDonell said. “[This time] seven or eight out of 10 ballots are going to be mail-in and absentee.”

In some states, poll workers can begin counting absentee ballots before election day. Wisconsin is not one of them. Poll workers can’t start processing any votes until 7 a.m. November 3, when polls open.

It takes a little more work to process an absentee ballot. It has to go to your polling place, and a poll worker will essentially stand in for the voter, going from table to table before they can count your vote.

“Absentee ballots are counted at the polls on election day, or at a central count facility, where the voter’s name and addresses announced just like as if they were there,” said Wisconsin Elections Commission Administrator Meagan Wolfe.

In Milwaukee County, officials said counting absentee ballots will definitely go into the next day. The same is expected for many other counties around Wisconsin. But Milwaukee is the state’s most populous - it will be impossible to call the race without their count.

“The process of opening each envelope, and ensuring that each elector is heard through this process is going to take approximately 18 to 23 hours to complete this election,” said Milwaukee County Election Commission Director Julietta Henry.

The Dane and Waukesha County Clerks also expect to have numbers in the wee hours of the morning on November 4.

Clerks seemed very eager to set up expectations that it will take longer. They don't want people being surprised by the wait, and thinking anything inappropriate is happening. Clerks said they want to educate the public so they understand what's going on. 

Election officials from Dane, Milwaukee, and Waukesha Counties said taking a little longer will make everyone’s vote count.

“Election reporting still takes time,” said Milwaukee County Clerk George Christianson.

“It’s better to get it right than to get it fast.”