Yes! When the SVDs visit, you can decline to vote your ballot and vote at an in-person absentee polling location before election day or at the polls on election day instead.
If you are registered to vote from the care facility (meaning you used the care facility address as your residence) AND that care facility is served by SVDs, your absentee ballot will be delivered by the SVD's or mailed to your mailing address if you are unable to vote during either SVD visit. Your family member is welcome to be in attendance when the SVDs visit and act as your assistant.
Rather than vote with the SVDs, you could vote at the polls on election day or vote absentee in-person at your municipal clerk's office or alternate site.
Alternatively, if you maintain a home outside of the care facility, you would be able to register to vote from that address and could apply to receive an absentee ballot with that registration.
If your Power of Attorney is a family member, they may assist you with registering to vote and voting your ballot* but they may not do those things on your behalf without your presence (Wis. Stat. 6.875(6)(c)1). Your Power of Attorney may request your absentee ballot on your behalf.
*If you are in a care facility served by SVDs, they will need to be in attendance during one of those visits in order to assist you.
What Voters in Residential Care Facilities Need to Know
SVD Voting is when special voting deputies (SVDs) come from the municipal clerk's office to a residential care facility to allow residents the opportunity to vote. Not all facilities are eligible for SVD voting so you may want to check with your municipal clerk to find out if yours is served by SVDs. SVDs only assist those residents who request assistance from them.
The SVDs will make two visits to your care facility so if you miss the first visit, you will have another opportunity to vote. If you miss both visits, the municipal clerk can mail your absentee ballot to the facility for you. Please contact your municipal clerk if you miss both SVD visits to ensure you still receive your ballot.
You may decline to vote when the SVDs visit. They have a form they will ask you to sign for their official records confirming you did not want to vote.
Getting Registered to Vote
You must be registered in order to vote absentee when the SVDs visit the facility*.
To register, you need a proof of residence document such as your care facility intake form, a residential lease, or check or document issued by a unit of government. These documents must contain your current name and current address.
You should only register to vote from the care facility if you are not there temporarily and have no present intent to return to your previous home
You can register to vote the following ways:
- On MyVote Wisconsin if you have a current and valid driver license or state ID
- On paper using the voter registration form (EL-131 link) and mailing it or having it delivered to the municipal clerk's office
*In some instances, the clerk may send/authorize an Election Registration Official (ERO) to register residents. If you know you need to register and would like assistance from the clerk's office, call your municipal clerk and see if they are planning to send an ERO with their SVDs.
If you need assistance getting registered, someone from the care facility, a family member, or friends (anyone except your employer or union rep) may act as your assistant and will need to sign in Section 10 on the registration form
Requesting a Ballot
In order for a care facility to qualify for a SVDs visit, there need to be at least 5 registered voters with active absentee ballot requests on file.
You may also request your absentee ballot one of the following ways:
- By email, using the MyVote Wisconsin website, if you have a photo ID, e.g., a WI driver license or state ID, US passport, etc.
- Using an absentee ballot request form (EL-121 link) or other written request to the clerk and submitting it to the clerk's office by mail, fax or email.
If your facility is already served by SVDs, you can request your ballot when they visit if you are already registered or if you are not, if it is during the open registration period and they sent an Election Registration Official (see above).
If you need assistance requesting your ballot, someone from the care facility, a family member, or friend may act as your assistant and will need to sign the Assistant Declaration/Certification section on the application form.
Photo ID Requirements and Exceptions
Most voters are required to provide an acceptable photo ID to request a ballot.
Many care facility residents qualify for exceptions:
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If you are requesting your ballot from the SVDs when they visit, the signatures of the SVDs on the ballot envelope serves as the proof of identification.
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If your care facility is not served by SVDs, a signature from care facility staff in section 5 on the ballot envelope serves as the proof of identification. You will need to let the clerk's office know your situation when you send in your application.
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If you consider yourself to be indefinitely confined under Wis. Stat. 6.86(2), meaning you are limited in your ability to leave the care facility due age, infirmity, disability or illness, you can check that box in Section 6 on the ballot application.
Voting by Mail
Request or Track your absentee ballot today!
Click here to continue to MyVote and request your by mail absentee ballot today. Already requested a ballot? Track your request to see that it's approved, your ballot is sent, and returned to be counted.
Voting by Absentee Ballot
Voting by absentee ballot is a convenient way to take part in the voting process. Find your municipal clerk’s office to learn about the in-person absentee voting hours and locations in your community. Interested in voting absentee by mail? To get started, you’ll need information about how to fill out your ballot, and successfully cast an absentee vote.
Any qualified elector. A qualified elector is a United States citizen, 18 years of age or older, who has resided in the district in which he or she intends to vote for at least 28 consecutive days. The elector must be registered in order to receive an absentee ballot.
Note: Military voters are not required to register (submit an EL-131) in order to vote.
You can request an absentee ballot on myvote.wi.gov or make a request to your municipal clerk in person, in writing, or electronically using the Application for Absentee Ballot (EL-121). You can also write a letter requesting an absentee ballot which provides the information required on the application form.
Military and Overseas electors may also use the Federal Postcard Application (FPCA), which is a combination registration form and absentee ballot request.
Online and by mail: The request must be in the office of the municipal clerk no later than 5:00 p.m. on the *5th day preceding an election.
In-person at the clerk's office: The last possible day for a clerk to conduct in-person absentee voting is the Sunday before the election. Each municipal clerk's office sets its own schedule for in-person absentee voting.
Note: A person cannot request an absentee ballot in person and leave the clerk's office with the ballot. The ballot is either voted in the clerk's office, or the clerk must mail the ballot to the elector.
- The deadline for indefinitely confined electors and military electors (not-away) to request an absentee ballot is the 4th day before the election.
- For a federal election, the deadline for military electors who are away from their residence due to active duty to request an absentee ballot is 5:00 p.m. on election day.
- Special provisions are made for hospitalized electors and sequestered jurors to request and vote by absentee ballot on election day. Wis. Stat. §§ 6.86(1)(b),(3)(a).
An absentee ballot must be sent by the following dates to any voter with an absentee application on file.
- 47 days before a federal election
- 21 days before a primary or other election. Wis. Stat. § 7.15(1))(cm).
- When a request for an absentee ballot is made by mail, the absentee ballot must be mailed to the elector within one day of the request.
- Voters requesting an absentee ballot in person must cast the ballot in the clerk's office. Voters cannot take the absentee ballot out of the clerk's office.
Special provisions are made for issuing absentee ballots to residents of a nursing home, qualifying retirement homes and community-based residential facilities. See our manual Absentee Voting in Residential Care Facilities and Retirement Homes.
Only military, permanent overseas, or temporarily overseas voter can request an absentee ballot to be sent to them by fax or email.
You can see what is on your ballot on myvote.wi.gov.
Where are you voting from?
Recent News
Electronic Registration Information Center (ERIC)
WHAT IS ERIC?
The Electronic Registration Information Center (ERIC) is a nonprofit, nonpartisan membership organization created by and comprised of state election officials from around the United States. Founded in 2012, ERIC is funded and governed by states that choose to join.
Member states securely submit voter registration and motor vehicle department data to ERIC. ERIC is also certified to use official death data from the Social Security Administration and subscribes to change of address data from the United States Postal Service.
ERIC is the most effective tool available to help election officials maintain more accurate voter rolls and detect possible illegal voting. ERIC also helps states reach out to potentially eligible but not yet registered individuals with information on how best to register to vote.
The Electronic Registration Information Center, known as ERIC, has a record of combating voter fraud by identifying those who have died or moved between states.
As the official record of all eligible voters in a state, a state’s voter registration rolls are the foundation of free, fair, and accurate elections. Most states are required by the National Voter Registration Act to “conduct a general program that makes a reasonable effort to remove the names of ineligible voters” from the rolls. States not subject to this federal law have state “list maintenance” laws aimed at keeping voter records up to date. Illegal voting is exceedingly rare but maintaining accurate voter rolls reduces the opportunity for such behavior and it helps build confidence in elections.
Keeping voter registration rolls up to date is a challenge though, because every day voters move or die. Voters don’t always remember to update their voter registration. Family members rarely report the death of a loved one to election officials. ERIC was created to address these challenges. Inaccurate, Costly, and Inefficient, published in 2012, found that approximately 1 out of 8 voter registrations in the U.S. were no longer valid or significantly inaccurate, more than 1.8 million deceased individuals were listed as voters, and approximately 2.75 million people had registrations in more than one state. Additionally, the report estimated there were at least 51 million eligible U.S. citizens who were not registered – about 24 percent of the eligible population.
The seven states that founded ERIC in 2012 believed using state-of-the-art data matching technology, a robust and safe data sharing program built on widely accepted information security standards, and an unprecedented commitment to cooperation would vastly improve their ability to maintain accurate voter rolls. It would also have the added benefit of allowing them to reach out to unregistered but likely eligible individuals far more accurately and efficiently than anyone else.
At least every 60 days, each member submits their voter registration data and licensing and identification data from motor vehicle departments (MVD) to ERIC. ERIC refers to these data as Member Data. ERIC’s technical staff uses sophisticated data matching software to compare Member Data from all member states, sometimes with data from other sources, to create the following four “list maintenance” reports.
Cross-State Movers Report: Identifies voters who appear to have moved from one ERIC member to another using voter registration data and MVD data.
In-State Updates Report: Identifies voters who appear to have moved within the jurisdiction, or who recently updated their contact information, using voter registration and MVD data.
Duplicate Report: Identifies voters with duplicate registrations in the same state using voter registration data and MVD data.
Deceased Report: Identifies voters who have died using voter registration data and Social Security death data known as the Limited Access Death Master File and MVD data.
In addition, ERIC offers three other reports:
Eligible but Unregistered Report: Identifies individuals who appear to be eligible but who are not yet registered by matching voter registration data against MVD data.
National Change of Address (NCOA) Report: Identifies voters who have moved using official data ERIC licenses from the US Postal Service.
Voter Participation Report: For each federal general election, members can request reports identifying voters who appear to have voted more than once in the member jurisdiction in the same election, in more than one member jurisdiction in the same election, or on behalf of a deceased voter within the member jurisdiction.
Simply put, ERIC compares a member’s voter records to other members’ voter records, MVD records, and to federal deceased data and national change of address data, for the purposes of flagging differences that indicate a member’s voter record may be out of date or inaccurate.
Refer to the “How Does It Work” page or access the Bylaws and Membership Agreement on the “About ERIC” page at www.ericstates.org for more information on the reports.
Which states are members of ERIC?
Besides Wisconsin, more than two dozen states are part of ERIC, including neighboring Illinois, Michigan, and Minnesota.
Wisconsin Statute § 6.36(1)(ae)
1. The chief election officer shall enter into a membership agreement with Electronic Registration Information Center, Inc., for the purpose of maintaining the official registration list under this section. Prior to entering into an agreement under this subdivision, the chief election officer shall ensure that the agreement satisfies all of the following conditions:
a. It safeguards the confidentiality of information or data in the registration list that may be subject to transfer under the agreement and to which access is restricted under par. (b) 1. a.
b. It prohibits the sale or distribution of the information or data in the registration list to a 3rd-party vendor and it prohibits any other action not associated with administration of or compliance with the agreement.
c. It does not affect the exemption for this state under the national voter registration act.
d. It allows the state to make contact with electors by electronic mail, whenever possible.
2. If the chief election officer enters into an agreement under subd. 1., the chief election officer shall comply with the terms of the agreement, including the transmission of information and data related to the registration of electors in this state to the Electronic Registration Information Center, Inc., for processing and sharing with other member states and governmental units.
Wisconsin joined ERIC in 2016 as part of a piece of legislation signed by former Gov. Scott Walker that enacted online voter registration and other changes to voting laws. Walker said the bill "brings Wisconsin elections into the 21st century."
Wisconsin receives all ERIC reports on a regular basis and uses technology to inform local clerks of the voter records in their jurisdictions that may need to be updated or deactivated. In most cases, local clerks, not the Wisconsin Elections Commission, are ultimately responsible for determining whether there is enough reliable information and, if appropriate, updating or deactivating the voter record.
The Wisconsin Elections Commission, rather than local clerks, is solely responsible for updating or deactivating the voting records of people who are suspected of having moved out of state.
While the Wisconsin Elections Commission is able to generate some of ERIC's data reports on its own, using Wisconsin's statewide voter registration system, the breadth and depth of ERIC's voter data remains unmatched.
Members fund ERIC. New members pay a one-time membership fee of $25,000, which is reserved for technology upgrades and other unanticipated expenses. Members also pay annual dues. Annual dues cover operating costs and are based, in part, on the citizen voting age population in each state. Thus, large jurisdictions pay more in annual dues than smaller ones. Members approve their dues and the annual budget. Dues for the 2022-23 fiscal year range from about $26,000 to about $116,000. ERIC’s 2022-23 operating budget is about $1,538,000. ERIC conducts annual independent audits of its financial statements.
In the 2022-23 fiscal year, the Wisconsin Elections Commission spent about $45,164 on ERIC membership dues.
ERIC’s Washington, D.C. address is a mailing address only. Like other organizations, employees work remotely. ERIC members are aware of this arrangement. It reduces operating costs without sacrificing security or our ability to serve our member’s needs. ERIC’s servers are housed in a managed, secure data center located in the U.S. Secure remote access to the data center is limited to only employees who need it to perform their duties.
Learn more about ERIC
Go to the ERIC website to learn more about this membership-based organization.
Photo ID Print Materials
Complete Guide to Voting in Wisconsin and the Photo ID Law
Attached is a packet containing all of the various voter guides created by the WEC.
Proof of Residence (POR) vs. Proof of Identification (POI)
A guide to acceptable POR vs. acceptable POI
Veteran's Affairs ID as Photo ID for Voting in Wisconsin
Guide for using a Veteran's Affairs ID, issued by the U.S. Veteran's Affairs Health Administration as photo ID for voting in Wisconsin.
Free ID and Identification Card Petition Process (IDPP) Palm Card
This palm card/brochure contains information about how to get a free state of Wisconsin ID card or a document that can be used for voting after one visit to a Division of Motor Vehicles office, even if the applicant does not have a birth certificate or other documentation. The document is valid for 180 days. Local election officials, groups and individuals are encouraged to print and distribute this handout to anyone who may need assistance in getting a photo ID to vote.
School District Clerks
Wisconsin is organized into 421 school districts. Each school district is governed by a school board whose members are elected by the residents of the district. The School District Clerk is a member of the school board though an administrator or assistant at the district may do many of the clerk's duties. School board offices are non-partisan and the elections take place in the spring with other such contests. The resources here have been created and compiled to help school district clerks administer their elections.
Election Admin Manual for School District Clerks
This manual was developed to serve as a knowledge base for the array of election duties required of school district clerks.
Webinar Recordings
Recordings of WEC training webinars can be viewed by school district clerks on our Vimeo Channel.
Recall Manual
As the filing officer, occasionally school district clerks do have to administer a recall process of a board member. The Recall Manual for Local Officials details the requirements.
Number of Signatures for a School Board Recall
When it comes to school districts, calculating the number of signatures a petitioner needs for a recall can be very complicated. WEC created a breakdown of the formula put forth in statute to help clerks.
School Board Candidate Forms
The forms school board candidates need to file to run for office can be found on the Local Candidates page, under Non-Partisan.
Fact Checks
Did military absentee ballot numbers unexpectedly decrease between 2020 and 2022?
The number of returned military absentee ballots did in fact decrease between the 2020 and 2022 General Elections. However, this decrease aligns with longstanding trends and follows a pattern dating to at least 2016. Determining the number of military members who voted absentee in an election is
Does Wisconsin have duplicate voter registration numbers?
No. All Wisconsin voter registration numbers are unique. Wisconsin voter registration numbers consist of at least 9 characters and are alpha-numeric. This means they may include both numbers and letters. They may also begin with any character, including a zero. Thus, the registration number is
What is a HAVA/DMV check and how do they work?
HAVA Checks are comparisons between a voter registration record and a DMV or Social Security record. They are also sometimes referred to as “DMV Checks.” They are designed to catch typos and data entry errors to improve the quality of the voter registration list. They are not designed to be a
Why does the statewide voter registration database include multiple voters with birth dates of 1/1/1900 and registration dates of 1/1/1918?
Default dates of birth and voter registration dates in the WisVote database is not a newly discovered issue or an indication of voter fraud. This information has been in the State Voter Registration System (SVRS) and WisVote system since at least 2006 and is the result of data migration from over
Did thousands of voters fail driver’s license checks because they are not real people and possess fraudulent licenses?
No. The Wisconsin Elections Commission has not received a single substantiated report of a specific person who misrepresented their identity and/or provided a fraudulent driver’s license to election officials. Driver’s license checks are a complicated subject. Some people are conflating and
Why are there thousands of voters with the same phone number listed in the statewide voter registration database?
This issue is almost exclusive to voters in the city of Racine, and almost exclusive to inactive voters. A default phone number appears in some Inactive Voter Records in the city of Racine because of data conversion more than 15 years ago from the city’s own legacy voter registration system into the
When a person is no longer registered to vote, why does Wisconsin make their registration status “inactive?” Why not just delete their record?
There are two big reasons to retain the records of inactive, or ineligible, voters. First and foremost is that the law requires it. The retention of public records is essential to the maintenance of an open and transparent government. Wisconsin Stat. § 16.61 addresses the retention of records for
Did “thousands of people” vote from the same address in the 2020 General Election?
No. Some people have circulated a spreadsheet showing multiple people at the same street address and claiming that, “thousands voted from the same address,” to imply fraudulent activity. Several different locations are mentioned but the two most commonly identified places are 1411 Ellis Avenue in
Will voting equipment updates cause the loss of data and “IP logs” containing evidence of fraud from the November 2020 General Election?
No. Some people are alleging or implying that routine software updates to voting equipment such as mechanical tabulators will destroy records. This is incorrect. Voting machine data is extremely important to election integrity. Fortunately, the election results reporting system in Wisconsin is
Did the WEC give Dominion permission in June 2021 to update all voting equipment in Wisconsin?
No, that is incorrect. It is based on a misunderstanding of the Wisconsin Elections Commission’s decision to approve a new version of a voting system. Misinformation about upgrades to Dominion Voting Systems in Wisconsin came from Mike Lindell’s “Cyber Symposium” in August 2021. A speaker at the