NYT:

There is little history in the state of voting by mail, leaving Democrats to improvise as the virus transformed the election, while contending with onerous restrictions put in place by the Republicans in power. Early results suggest Democrats have been effective in having party volunteers help voters navigate a complicated process to request and return mail ballots, an online system that required uploading a copy of their photo identification. The sessions were often conducted through one-on-one video calls.

“The work we did wasn’t about taking unmotivated people and trying to prod them to cast a ballot,” said Ben Wikler, the chairman of the Democratic Party of Wisconsin. “It was about taking highly motivated people and helping them navigate a maze to help them safely and legally cast a vote.”…

Like Mr. Walker, Wisconsin Republicans attributed the defeat to the presidential primary raising Democratic turnout. But they also said battles over whether to conduct the election amid the pandemic wound up keeping away more of their own voters, who tend to be older and more concentrated in rural areas where polling places are farther away.

The very regulations that Mr. Walker and fellow Republicans put in place to restrict voting by mail — requirements that voters upload a copy of their photo identification to request a ballot and obtain a witness signature before returning their ballots — may have had the effect of keeping away Republicans used to voting in person who were unfamiliar with new processes.

“While Republicans encouraged early and absentee voting, many elderly either did not have the wherewithal to request absentee ballots or the inclination to vote in person on April 7,” said Doug Rogalla, the Republican Party chairman in Monroe County. “They were confused, afraid and decided to stay home.”