- Wis. Stat. § 6.875 outlines the process for utilizing a Special Voting Deputy (SVD). SVDs are individuals who are deputized by the clerk of each municipality to administer absentee voting in nursing homes and qualified care facilities. SVDs visit each qualified facility to issue absentee ballots and assist residents who are eligible voters with the voting process. The SVDs are required to serve as witnesses in this process and must verify voters’ identities as part of the voting process to satisfy the photo ID requirement.
- Municipal clerks are required to send two SVDs to each nursing home and qualified care facility for two visits prior to each election to conduct in-person, on-site absentee voting with the residents. Further, the law prevents absentee ballots from being mailed to facilities that are served by SVDs until after at least two visits have been attempted. However, pursuant to Wis. Stat. § 6.875(6)(e), if an elector was not able to vote during the two visits by the SVDs, the SVDs must notify the clerk or the director of the board of election commissioners, who may then send absentee ballots to residents who request a ballot.
- The Commission first discussed Special Voting Deputies in light of the COVID-19 pandemic prior to the April 7, 2020 Presidential Preference Vote and Spring Election. Commission staff received reports from municipal clerks in early March that facilities normally served by SVDs were closed to visitors due to the COVID-19 pandemic and that SVDs would not be granted access.
- During its March 12, 2020 meeting the Commission reviewed all of this information and determined that the Governor’s Executive Order #72 and directives of the Department of Health Services prevented voting with SVD’s for the Spring Election. Due to these restrictions, SVDs and observers were not able to visit nursing homes and qualified care facilities.
- Clerks were instructed to follow the statutorily provided procedure for when residents or facilities are not available for SVD voting and send absentee ballots to voters in those facilities with an active absentee ballot request. This guidance was applicable to both the April 7 election and the May 12 special election in Congressional District 7.
- The Commission reconsidered its guidance prior to both the August 2020 Partisan Primary and the November 3 General Election but did not substantively change recommendations for how to administer voting in nursing homes and care facilities.
- Information and resources to support local election officials and care facility and nursing home administrators and staff were posted to the Commission website on July, 13, 2020: https://elections.wi.gov/node/6957.
- The Commission revisited this guidance prior to the November General Election during their September 16, 2020 public meeting. The following memo was issued to Wisconsin election officials as a result of that discussion: https://elections.wi.gov/node/7134. The staff memo and other materials for that meeting can be found here: https://elections.wi.gov/node/7081.
- The issue of restricted access to facilities served by SVDs was not new in 2020, as other public health concerns, such as influenza and MRSA, have previously caused access issues. Clerks have always been advised to follow the statutory prescribed process of mailing ballots to voters normally served by SVDs if the voter, or facility, was not available for SVD visits.
For additional information on this topic, please see the full overview and attachments posted below.