Riley Vetterkind, @email
MADISON, Wis. – The Wisconsin Elections Commission today reminds voters to be ready for the upcoming Partisan Primary on Tuesday, August 9, 2022. Here’s what voters should know:
1. Contact your clerk regarding questions about returning your absentee ballot.
In July, the Wisconsin Supreme Court in Richard Teigen v. Wisconsin Elections Commission ruled that “ballot drop boxes are illegal under Wisconsin statutes. An absentee ballot must be returned by mail or the voter must personally deliver it to the municipal clerk at the clerk's office or a designated alternate site.”
2. Voters who received their absentee ballot by mail should make plans to return it to their clerk’s office or other site established by their municipality as soon as possible.
The U.S. Postal Service advises that it can take up to one week for mail to be delivered, so voters who still need to return absentee ballots should return them to their municipal clerk as soon as possible.
On Election Day, most voters may deliver their absentee ballots directly to their normal polling place, but it must arrive before polls close at 8 p.m. Check with your municipal clerk regarding this option. Voters in cities, villages or towns that count absentee ballots at a central location must return ballots to their clerk’s office or the central count location. Please follow the return instructions that came with your absentee ballot. Voters who plan to return their absentee ballot to their clerk’s office should do so as early as possible because the ballot must be picked up from there and delivered to the polling place by 8 p.m. on Election Day.
Any voter who has not returned their absentee ballot is still eligible to vote in person on Election Day.
3. Closely follow the instructions that came with your by-mail absentee ballot.
To ensure that your absentee ballot is counted, the WEC recommends voters pay close attention to the included instructions for completing and delivering your absentee ballot.
4. The last day for municipal clerks to offer in-person absentee voting is Sunday, August 7.
However, municipalities may end in-person absentee voting before that date, so check with your municipal clerk. To learn where and when you can vote absentee in person in your municipality, please visit MyVote.wi.gov. In some smaller communities, voters may need to make appointments with their municipal clerk’s office.
5. You need an acceptable photo ID to vote, but your ID for voting does not need to show your current address or have a star on it.
Your acceptable photo ID for voting does not need to show your current address. Most voters already have the photo ID they need to vote, such as a Wisconsin driver license or ID and anyone with questions should visit the Bring It to the Ballot website (https://bringit.wi.gov) or call 1-866-VOTE-WIS for information. A voter who does not have an acceptable photo ID must be offered a provisional ballot and the opportunity to submit a photo ID within three days after the election.
Voters without an acceptable photo ID can get one for free with one visit to their local Wisconsin Division of Motor Vehicles office. For more information, call 608-266-1069. Voters without supporting documents needed to obtain an ID, such as a birth certificate, can also visit their local DMV office and apply. The DMV offers an ID Petition Process where it will verify the voter’s identity and issue them a voting-compliant state ID card even if they do not have all the necessary supporting documents. For more information on this process visit: https://wisconsindot.gov/pages/dmv/license-drvs/how-to-apply/petition-p….
Wisconsin voters with a driver license or state ID card do not need to worry about whether their ID has a “REAL ID” star in the corner to be used as photo ID for voting. A photo ID with the star may at some point be needed to board an airplane or enter federal buildings, but it is not required for voting. An acceptable photo ID used for voting must be unexpired or, if expired, has expired after the date of the most recent general election on November 3, 2020.
6. Voters can find their polling place, see a sample ballot, or check the status of their absentee ballot at MyVote.wi.gov.
Your polling place may have changed from the location you voted at previously. The Wisconsin Elections Commission’s MyVote Wisconsin website, https://myvote.wi.gov, allows you to verify your polling place and provides directions to every polling place in the state, as well as information about what will be on voters’ ballots when they get there.
Voters can also check whether their registration is current. If it’s not, they can start the voter registration process online, print their filled-out voter registration form and bring it to the polls with them on Election Day so they can sign it in front of a poll worker. Voters can also complete a paper registration form at their polling place on Election Day. If you are registering to vote, remember you will need to show a proof of residence document with your current name and address on it. Proof of residence can be a government document, like a Wisconsin ID card, or a document like a bank statement or utility bill. You can show your proof of residence document either in paper form, or electronically on your phone or mobile device. For details, check out the Voter Registration Guide: https://elections.wi.gov/voters/first-time-registration-guide.
Voters can also use MyVote Wisconsin to check the status of their absentee ballot.
7. Polls open at 7 a.m. and close at 8 p.m. on Tuesday, August 9.
The hours of polling places around Wisconsin are all the same. Voters need to be in line by 8 p.m. to vote.