This memorandum outlines important absentee ballot deadlines for the upcoming August 13, 2024, Partisan Primary. These procedures are required by the federal Uniformed and Overseas Absentee Voters Act (UOCAVA) and Wis. Stat. §§ 7.10(3) and 7.15(1)(cm).
County Ballot Delivery Deadline
This is a reminder that counties must deliver ballots to their municipalities no later than the end of the day on Wednesday, June 26, 2024, for the August 13, 2024, Partisan Primary. Wis. Stat. § 7.10(3). This is to ensure that municipalities have sufficient time to fulfill any absentee ballot requests for military or overseas voters beginning June 27, 2024, the state deadline for responding to any such requests on file.
We ask that counties please report to the WEC when ballots have been distributed to their municipalities. If a county anticipates any issues in meeting the deadline for distribution, we ask that the county please contact WEC as soon as possible and we can work with the county to ensure municipalities have an option to fulfill absentee ballot requests by the deadline.
Upcoming Ballot Deadlines for Military and Overseas Voters
Federal and state law require that municipalities send absentee ballots to their military and overseas electors with requests on file in accordance with the deadlines set forth below.
Military, Temporary Overseas and Permanent Overseas voters may request to receive their ballot via email or fax, and clerks are required to honor those requests. Military and Permanent Overseas voters may also request to receive their ballot online via the MyVote Wisconsin website (myvote.wi.gov). Any requests received after the state deadline of Thursday, June 27, 2024, must be honored within 24 hours and the ballot must be sent by the method requested by the voter. Voters who request their ballot be delivered to them online will receive an email notifying them their ballot is ready.
The U.S. Department of Justice (US DOJ) has agreed that, for those clerks who do not normally have office hours on Saturday, the requests that come in after the close of business (4:30 p.m.) on Friday, June 28 or on Saturday, June 29, may be responded to on Monday, July 1 and still be considered timely.
Remember, absentee ballot requests may be received from military, permanent overseas or temporary overseas electors through a MyVote.wi.gov email notification. Please read all MyVote notifications thoroughly to see if you need to mail, fax or email a ballot to a UOCAVA voter. If a military or permanent overseas elector asks to receive the ballot “online” (see Ballot Delivery Method, NOT the Application Source) then the elector will access the ballot on MyVote and the clerk does not need to send the ballot. If the elector asks to receive the ballot by mail, email or fax, the ballot must be transmitted by the method requested. Temporary overseas electors may not receive ballots through MyVote because they must submit photo identification to the municipal clerk before receiving a ballot.
Please note that to see all military or overseas voters in WisVote, it is now a one-step process. Once you are in the election, click Run Report; select UOCAVA Absentee Ballot from the dropdown.
Reminder Related to Temporary Overseas Electors
Temporary Overseas electors are entitled to the same protections as other types of UOCAVA voters. This means that they have the right to receive an absentee ballot electronically (email or fax only) and they may also use the Federal Write-In Absentee Ballot (FWAB) to cast their votes. This will not affect the current statutory distinction which allows temporary overseas electors to vote for all offices while restricting permanent overseas electors to vote only in contests for federal offices. For purposes of UOCAVA, “overseas” means “outside the United States.”
Resources to Assist You
The WEC has created a few new resources to assist you with navigating the process for military and overseas voters. The first is the Military and Overseas Voter Manual. It will walk you through all of the steps and requirements for assisting these voters and includes the current instructions for checking WisVote for compliance.
A recorded 2024 UOCAVA webinar is available in ElectEd. The webinar provides clerks with additional information on processing UOCAVA absentee requests.
Thank you for your assistance in this matter. We know you take very seriously your role in ensuring that military and overseas electors are able to cast their ballots. We feel confident that with your cooperation all UOCAVA voters from Wisconsin will receive their ballot on or before the deadlines for the August 13, 2024, Partisan Primary and that we will be able to promptly submit the required absentee ballot data to the US DOJ.
If you have any questions or anticipate any problems with meeting the UOCAVA absentee ballot deadlines, please contact the WEC Help Desk at @email or by phone at (608) 261-2028.