WATCH LIVE: Walz campaigns with Obama in Madison, Wisconsin, as early voting begins

MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Early in-person voting began Tuesday in battleground Wisconsin. Former President Barack Obama and Democratic vice presidential nominee Tim Walz held a rally in liberal Madison and Republicans held events to encourage voting for Donald Trump ahead of Election Day.

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Trump lost Wisconsin by nearly 21,000 votes in 2020, an election that saw unprecedented early and mail-in voting due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris expect another razor-thin lead in Wisconsin, and both sides are urging voters to cast their ballots early.

On Tuesday, voters lined up in communities across the state, including in the liberal stronghold of Milwaukee and in conservative suburban Milwaukee communities. Early voting times and locations varied across the state.

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“We know that elections in Wisconsin are decided by one or two votes per county,” Madison Mayor Satya Rhodes-Conway said at an early voting event. “So our voices matter.”

Trump has been highly critical of mail-in voting in previous elections, falsely claiming it is rife with fraud. But in this election, he and his supporters are using all forms of voting, including mail-in voting and early in-person voting. Trump himself called for early voting at a rally in Dodge County, Wisconsin, earlier this month.

Wisconsin Republican Party Chairman Brian Schimming said Monday that the message from Trump and Republicans this year was “very clear” that voting would be brought forward. Schimming has even banned the use of mail-in ballot drop boxes, a method of returning ballots that Trump once opposed and that some Republicans in Wisconsin still use.

“We have to use every possible opportunity to get votes,” said Schimming in a press conference. “When it comes to getting a vote or not, I tell Republicans, ‘Throw it in the mailbox or put it in the mailbox.'”

Numerous Republican officials and candidates planned to cast their votes on Tuesday. One of them, Republican U.S. Senate candidate Eric Hovde, said after casting his vote at the town hall in the Madison suburb of Shorewood Hills that early voting was now part of the election process.

Hovde encouraged others to vote early because it is impossible to predict what might happen on Election Day. That sentiment was shared by Republican U.S. Rep. Bryan Steil, who was scheduled to vote Tuesday

“You never know when a snowstorm will hit Wisconsin in November,” Steil said Monday. “It’s a great opportunity to go to your local office when the weather is nice, cast your vote and have it in the bank.”

Obama and Walz, the governor of neighboring Minnesota, have scheduled an early election rally in the Democratic stronghold of Madison. Harris held a rally at the same location last month that was attended by more than 10,000 people.

Obama traveled to neighboring Michigan later Tuesday, one of several stops the former president is making in battleground states to promote early voting.

Harris has spent significant time in the blue wall states of Wisconsin, Michigan and Pennsylvania in the final weeks of the campaign, including stops in Michigan and Wisconsin on Monday. Republican vice presidential candidate JD Vance was in the conservative suburbs of Milwaukee on Sunday.

The Wisconsin Democratic Party also held events across Wisconsin to encourage early voting, as did liberal advocacy groups such as Souls to the Polls, a Milwaukee-based organization that targets black voters. That’s a key demographic for Democrats in Milwaukee, the state’s largest city and also the source of most Democratic votes.

Early voting in Wisconsin began Tuesday and continues through Sunday, November 3rd. However, early voting locations and times vary by state. The voter does not have to give a reason for his or her absence. Ballots have been mailed since late September, but starting Tuesday, voters will be able to request a ballot and drop off their ballot in person at certain polling locations.

As of Monday, more than 360,000 mail-in ballots had already been returned in Wisconsin. Voters can still return them by mail, in person or at absentee ballot drop boxes in communities where they are available. All mail-in ballots must be received by the close of voting at 8:00 p.m. on Election Day.

Associated Press writer Todd Richmond contributed to this story.