State Senator Jeff Smith
If you’re like me, you’re probably experiencing whiplash from all the voting changes and the political ads airing on TV, radio and at the mailbox. It’s hard not to visualize yourself at your polling location casting a ballot on Election Day.
At the thought of going out, you consider what you will need when you show up to the polls: keys, wallet or purse, voter ID and a facemask. As we get through this global pandemic, the idea of going out is often measured by the importance of our errand. Voting is a critical task, but it doesn’t have to be a hassle – absentee voting will save you a trip on Election Day, and you can research your choices while filling out your ballot at your kitchen table.
Absentee voting is safe and easy. You don’t have to schedule your trip to your polling location and you can rest assured your vote will be counted by your local clerks and poll workers in a secure and efficient way.
The deadline to request your absentee ballot is quickly approaching, so acting today will help you get your ballot in time and make your choices. That way you can tell those political callers you already voted and they will take you off their lists!
You must request your absentee ballot from your town, village or city clerk by 5 pm on October 29th, but why wait? Make sure you are registered and request your ballot today. You can simply request your absentee ballot at MyVote.WI.gov. You can also email your clerk, set up a time to meet with him or her; or, if the clerk’s office has regular business hours, show up and they can help you out. You will fill out a simple absentee ballot request form and either send them a copy of your photo ID or present it to the clerk.
After requesting your ballot, you will receive your absentee ballot in the mail. Don’t delay sending your ballot back too! The United States Postal Service recommends sending your completed absentee ballot back to your clerk’s office one week from Election Day, but the earlier the better. A recent court ruling says ballots postmarked on Election Day, but received before November 9th will be counted. If you haven’t received your ballot by mail, you can email your clerk and they can send you a ballot by email.
The great thing about absentee voting is that a ballot will automatically be sent to you every election. If you move, you will have to re-register, but it isn’t something you have to do every time you vote.
It seems like every election there is a new court ruling or new law citizens have to navigate to cast a ballot. For the most up-to-date and comprehensive information, you can visit MyVote.wi.gov. On the website, you will see important deadlines, find your polling location and even see a sample ballot.
Despite continual court challenges and laws designed to limit voting, we must make our voices heard. It’s not about politics, it’s about our civic duty to participate in democracy. It’s what makes our country great. Each citizen has the right and the duty to vote.
Don’t forget to vote all the way down your ballot too! Learning about state and local candidates is just as important as your pick for President and Vice President. If you don’t know who is running locally or what their stances are, just ask your friends or look them up online.
Voting doesn’t have to be hard; we can all make our choices in a safe and efficient way. If you ever have any questions about voting changes or need to know how to register to vote or request your ballot, my office is ready to assist you. Just email us at [email protected] or give us a call at 608-266-8546.
Memberships
Should I Vote In-Person Early Absentee at house of local clerk who has McCain signs/bumpersticker?
OK, I decided I would like to vote in-person early absentee in
Wisconsin after I've read items encouraging it, and it sounded like a
good way to accomplish the one small, but critically significant step
on my part towards electing Barack Obama/Joe Biden that is now
possible. Positive results include feeling like my vote is 'in the
bank', allowing the campaign to check me off the list(s), and--child
situation permitting--possibly allowing me to drive others on election day.
I called the local Clerk and found that early voting occurs
at the clerk's house, and I could come vote early by calling and making
sure he/she was home. So I decided to do it immediately and drive out
to the home, which was not far from the regular voting building used on
Nov 4. Once I found the right mailbox to the house however, I noticed
a McCain-Palin sign in the driveway and a McCain bumper sticker
on the car. Probably just unreasonable paranoia on my part caused by
reading liberal blogs, but I had a very creepy feeling and turned right
around with only a momentary stop there.
I called on the way home, lied and said I had my license but needed to return to get my
proof-of-address, and the clerk informed me that was not needed since I was already registered on the rolls and had picture ID. So I lied
about needing to pick up my kid and would have to come some other
time--and the clerk said OK--just call anytime to make sure.
He/she--especially if they saw the car--perhaps suspects I'm lying!
Now my community is a small one of slightly less than 1500 between Milwaukee and Madison, so I can
understand that there may need to be more informal voting processes in such areas.
And I've heard nothing bad about the clerk in charge, who has been
around a long time from what I gather and has been in charge of other
local offices. I'm sure there are good Republican clerks and good Democrat clerks who have to accept ballots from the 'other' party all across Wisconsin. Nonetheless, in an election year in which Van Hollen is already attempting tricks, and Wisconsin is one of the handful of more hotly contested states, one cannot be too careful. I put this story on my Obama blog and emailed it to the campaign not to accuse anyone, but just for them to be aware of. My options appear to me to be the following:
(1) Avoid voting in-person absentee early since my voter preference may have been noticed by the partisan clerk, and just vote anonymously on Nov 4 like most people. Since my town is small this is not difficult as long as I arrive at non peak hours. However, it would reduce the time I would be available to drive other voters to the polls, which I am considering volunteering for.
(2) Go to her home and vote in-person early absentee, but do some steps of due diligence just in case the clerk is facing pressure from above to 'tamper'--including (a) take a cell phone picture of my ballot (b) take careful mental notes of the steps involved in voting to make sure all the voting rules/privacies are followed (c) look up my vote in the VPA online voter registration database to see if there is a record of me voting or (d) go to the polls on Nov 4 and check for record of me voting. Now option d is less preferable because, as with regular voting, it would reduce my volunteer time available. Option c is preferable, but I am not certain when record of the absentee ballot appears in the online database--is it logged when the unknown vote is received and filed away to be opened and recorded on election day, or is it recorded online on election day or after? If the latter, it would be too late for me to respond to a clerk's accidental 'loss'/'misplacing' of my ballot.
(3) Request an early absentee ballot and mail it in. There's still time to do this, but the ballot would still go to the same clerk, who may have identified me as an Obama supporter. I'd still desire a way to check (a) that I'd voted (b) ideally, that I'd voted for who I desired to vote for. Is there any way of even
partially confirming whether I voted for Obama after my ballot has been
through a McCain-Palin clerk's hands weeks before the election?
In general, likewise, aren't there some kind of 'public witness' standards for early absentee
voting that would preclude a single elections clerk (of either party)
from taking an absentee vote
in his/her private home, presumably with no other witnesses or representatives from the other party? Where are the early votes
stored--in a clerks personal safe? Isn't there even an
implicit problem of voter intimidation in my local case in regards to
early voting--that is, Mccain voters go up to the house and see affirmation of their candidate on driveway and car (and can feel
confident encouraging Republican friends to 'go vote early, it's easy'), whereas Democrats like myself--rightly or wrongly--feel like
they're about to entrust their votes to enemy hands--and may feel
discouraged from early voting and thus increase the lines for regular
anonymous voting on Nov 4.
Press releases and other content not written by a specific Eye On Dunn County author are listed as Eye On Dunn County Staff.
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