1. Background.
This week, the WEC will mail approximately 32,700 postcards to Wisconsin residents who were identified as potentially moving. As part of Wisconsin’s membership in the Electronic Registration Information Center (ERIC), the WEC is required to contact voters who ERIC has flagged as having potentially moved. ERIC obtains data from a variety of sources, such as the Wisconsin Department of Transportation, other participating states, and the National Change of Address (NCOA) database from the United States Postal Service.
In 2021 the WEC began a quarterly Movers review process. This is the second of three mailings planned in 2021. The first mailing, in June, was the largest as the Movers mailing prior to that was in 2019. The Quarter 3 Movers mailing will be sent out on September 30, 2021. One additional 4th Quarter mailing is planned in December 2021.
The postcard notifies voters that a transaction with the WisDOT Division of Motor Vehicles or an NCOA update indicates their address may be different than their voter registration address. Voters who receive the postcard and have moved within the State of Wisconsin may choose to reregister online, by mail, at their clerk’s office, or at their polling place on the next Election Day. The postcard also provides affirmation options for the voter if they have not moved.
2. Voter Options.
Voters who have not moved may use one of the following options to affirm the address on their voter registration: (1) return their signed postcard to their municipal clerk; (2) visit the MyVote Wisconsin website and click the “Confirm Your Address” button; or (3) vote in the next election where they can affirm with poll workers that they have not had a change of address. Voters may contact their municipal or county clerk with questions in response to
3. Clerk Responsibilities.
The voter records identified for this mailing will remain Active in WisVote but will have an updated status reason of “Movers” and a watermark will appear next to their names in the poll book. Clerks have discretion to assess each case individually and may elect to deactivate records or restore the record to "Active/Registered" status.
Note: If a postcard is returned to clerk’s office and the clerk is choosing to pursue deactivation for this record, they must still send a 30-day notice letter to the voter before deactivating the voter record.
If the 30-day notice comes back as undeliverable, the clerk can process and inactivate the voter record. The voter status reason will be Undeliverable if it comes back without a forwarding or new address on return piece and Moved if it has a new or forwarding address. If a voter receives the 30-day notice and responds that they still reside at the same address and wish to remain registered, the clerk may return the voter record to “Active/Registered” status. If a voter changes their residence within the municipality, the clerk must change the registration and mail the voter a notice of the change.
Note: Additional information specific to WisVote processing will be available in the related WisVote News announcement.
Decisions to modify these voter records are to be made by clerks at the municipal level. Clerks may want to contact their municipal counsel for assistance in interpreting applicable statutes such as Wis. Stat. § 6.50(3).
4. Questions.
If you have any questions regarding the 2021 ERIC Movers mailings, please contact the Elections Help Desk at @email or 608-261-2028.