Wisconsin voters started lining up at Hudson City Hall before the doors even opened at 10 a.m. Tuesday for the start of in-person absentee voting. Some waited up to an hour to finally cast their vote in one of the most closely-contested presidential election states in the country.

“We’ve been getting calls since when Minnesota started their early voting,” says Hudson City Clerk Becky Eggen, referring to Minnesota early voting that started Sept. 20. “Then we got the calls  and so yeah, there’s been a lot of inclination of asking when this started so we knew it was going to be busy today.”

Some of the voters we talked to said they’ll be relieved when the election is over because life in a battleground state can lead to voter fatigue. The state has both a close presidential race and a tight U.S. Senate race.

“I get about 10 texts a day,” says Jeane Buhr, who voted Tuesday morning. “Ten phone calls and mail every day for a month so I’ll be very happy when it’s over.”

Another Wisconsin voter, Brian Helland, tells a similar story. “Text messages a lot, mostly asking for donations and whatnot. And then a lot of flyers in the mail. So there’s obviously a lot of money being spent on this election.”

One voter transplanted to Wisconsin from Minnesota, where a Democrat has won every presidential election since 1972. “Extremely excited because I moved here so I’d have a shot,” Ron Jungbauer told 5 EYEWITNESS NEWS after casting his vote. “My vote didn’t count in Minnesota.”

There’s a lot of attention being paid to Wisconsin by the presidential candidates and their running mates. Donald Trump and JD Vance have made multiple stops and so have Kamala Harris and Tim Walz. Walz was in Madison Tuesday with former President Barack Obama promoting the start to early voting in Wisconsin.

“This election is two weeks from today… and early voting has started in Wisconsin,” Walz said at a rally where he introduced Obama.

So, just how close is Wisconsin in the presidential race? Four of the seven statewide polls conducted in October by various organizations have the race as a dead-even tie. Two others show Trump with a small lead and one where Harris is leading. In 2016, Trump beat Hilary Clinton by less than a point and in 2020 Trump lost to Joe Biden by less than a point.

“As a whole, Wisconsin is a 50-50 state,” Brian Helland said after casting his vote. “That’s just the way it is. It’s kind of nerve-wracking to be honest with you.”

Early voting in Wisconsin goes for nine weekdays from today through Friday, Nov. 1.