Municipal and County Clerk Partners:
Today, the Commission passed the following three motions regarding the spending plan for the federal 2020 CARES Act Grant funds for elections.
More detailed information about each item will be forthcoming, but we did want to let you know right away so that you can begin preparations accordingly. Materials for this evening’s meeting can be found here: https://elections.wi.gov/node/6912
Here are the motions that were approved by the Commission:
Motion #1: The Commission directs WEC staff to administer a CARES Act sub-grant to local election officials with a base grant of $200, and then an additional rate of $1.10 per registered voter not to exceed a total cost of more than $4,126,528.
More information about this grant and how to apply for your funds will be provided to all clerks in the coming days.
Motion #2: The Commission directs staff to prepare a draft mailer for the Commission’s review and approval at the June 10 meeting. The Commission further directs staff to prepare for the mailing to be sent to all voters without an active absentee request on file (excluding ERIC movers and others who may not be eligible) for a total cost not to exceed $2,252,035.
This proposal also includes completed absentee applications being returned to WEC staff and data entered by WEC staff for approval/denial by municipal clerks. More information on this initiative will be provided after the Commission’s June 10th meeting.
Motion #3: The Commission directs staff not to pursue the redesign of the absentee ballot certificate envelope in 2020 and further directs staff to incorporate intelligent mail barcodes into the existing design and to issue best practices to local election officials on how to maximize the usability of the current envelope design.
Clerks should proceed with envelope orders of the current design. More information on customization to consider with your print order (and using grant funds if so chosen) will be provided in a follow-up communication.
Thank you to the many clerks who have worked with us over the past few months to provide feedback on changes to the absentee process. Again, this is just a preliminary communication to inform you of the Commission’s decisions, detailed information on each initiative will be provided in the coming days.