A Primer on Primaries

Off to the races! - As you know, December 1 was the first day candidates could begin circulating nomination papers for the 2024 Spring Election. Below are some important things to keep in mind as the 2024 election cycle gets underway:

Ballot Proofing

If your municipality will have a Spring Primary on February 20, 2024, please work with your county clerk to ensure your county has the correct list of candidates and offices.

Deadlines

• January 2, 2024 – Deadline to file ballot access documents in municipalities that use nomination papers
• January 9, 2024 – Deadline to approve candidates and draw for ballot order

Appointing Election Officials

As we head into election season, please keep in mind the below key points with regard to appointing election workers:

Appointment process:

• Current election inspectors must be re-appointed by the governing body.

• Political parties should have submitted nominee lists by November 30, 2023.

• Balance of political appointees is determined at each polling place.

• Inspectors must be qualified electors in the county and able to read and write English.

Training:

• Municipal clerks and chief inspectors need 6 hours of training to re-certify.

• Regular inspectors need some training, but there is no hourly requirement.

• Webinar & Webinar Materials

New Year, New Learning Environment

TLC is getting replaced January 9 with a new and improved system. Help us name it!

Staff at WEC and website developers have been working together on an improved learning management system (LMS), which is set to launch on January 9.

In the new LMS, clerks will be able to:

• Add, manage, and remove poll worker accounts
• View and track their own and their poll workers’ training
• Add training events they will be offering to the calendar
• Assign training to poll workers
• Track how many hours they and their poll workers have accrued
• See and register for upcoming training events

While there is no doubt this will be a big change, we have every confidence that you will adapt quickly and find that this system is a vast improvement to the current setup.

Please complete and record any training you are working on in TLC by January 7.

Ace Your Nomination Paper Season

Dive into the nomination paper review guide for a quick run-through of what's needed, sample pages, tips on making edits, and handling the usual hiccups when reviewing.

Fancy a more hands-on approach? Jump into the interactive training over at The Learning Center. Find the Election Administration tile in the pre-Election Day section. Send staff helping you review papers to Vimeo for a video full of paper reviewing tips.

Filing Deadlines & Posting Rules for Non-Candidacy

Filing officers must publicly announce when incumbents file a Notification of Non-Candidacy or miss the Declaration of Candidacy deadline. This applies to all municipalities, regardless of whether they nominate candidates through papers or caucus.

Non-Candidacy Filing Deadline

Incumbents have until the second Friday before the nomination paper deadline (this year that second Friday is December 22, 2023) to submit non-candidacy notifications.

Failure to notify or failure to file nomination papers by the deadline will extend the nomination paper deadline 72 hours for that office.

State Holidays

If a deadline isn't on an official state holiday, officers must accept filings due that day, similar to non-state holidays like Good Friday.

Posting Requirements for Non-Candidacy Notifications

For Nomination Papers:

Officers must post notifications online or in three local spots if incumbents provide notification or miss the January 2, 2024, 5 p.m. candidacy filing deadline. If this happens, other candidates get a 72-hour deadline extension for filing purposes.

For Caucus Nominations:

Same posting rules apply. If a caucus-nominated incumbent fails to submit forms by 5 p.m. on the fifth day post-caucus notification, the deadline for all other certified candidates is extended by 72 hours.

Encourage Incumbent Awareness

To assist with the deadline, clerks should send incumbents a non-candidacy form and explanatory note. The form and electronic filing options are available on the Wisconsin Elections Commission website.

We're Talking MOUs, Updates, and Equipment, OH MY!

Clerks in Badger Book municipalities have received a flurry of emails from WEC staff over the past few weeks.

NOTE: you will no longer have access to upload MOUs to TLC after January 7

Here is a rundown of what is going on and what is coming due:

• Veteran” Badger Book users’ MOUs were due in TLC December 1.

• New Badger Book users’ MOUs are due in January.

• A Badger Book municipality may not download an election file until their MOU is returned.

• Software update 3.1.1.1 is available in WisVote and needs to be put on the server(s) as soon as possible to comply with the MOU.

• PDS has run out of Badger Book machines to sell and WEC staff are reviewing the options for and testing the software on possible replacements now. Expect a decision early next year.

As always, if there are any questions, please contact the team via email: @email.

Make Sure Voters Can Find You!

Check your staff info on MyVote

Maintaining your contact information and staff list in WisVote is crucial for ensuring that voters can contact your office, and that only active election officials have access to this sensitive database. You can easily verify that your municipality's clerk contact information is correct by using MyVote. Click on the "Find My Clerk" link in the footer and enter a local address.

Also, as a matter of routine, please keep the WEC Helpdesk aware of any incoming staff members who need WisVote access, or outgoing staff members whose access should be removed, and the dates to change their access.

Please contact the WEC Helpdesk if you have any questions about your staff's WisVote.

Upcoming Dates & Deadlines

Upcoming Events

• December 15, 2023 – Poll lists from the February 15, 2022 Spring Primary may be destroyed.
• December 22, 2023 (5:00 p.m.) – Deadline for incumbents not seeking reelection to file Notification of Noncandidacy (EL-163) with the filing officer.
• December 28, 2023 – Municipal clerk publishes caucus notice.
• December 31, 2023 – Deadline for governing body of a municipality to appoint election inspectors and special voting deputies for the 2024-2025 term.
• January 1, 2024
  • Last day for town or village governing body to set a date for caucus.
  • First day for political organizations seeking to attain ballot status to circulate the Petition for Ballot Status (EL-171).
• January 2, 2024 (5:00 p.m.) – Deadline for candidates to file nomination papers, declarations of candidacy, and campaign registration statements for the 2024 Presidential Preference Primary and Spring Election with the filing officer.
• January 5, 2024
  • Deadline for filing officer to accept challenges to nomination papers
  • Last day for governing body of a city or village to decide upon a primary, or for electors of a city to petition for a primary, if not required by ordinance.

Upcoming Commission Meetings

• December 19, 2023: Special Meeting

Upcoming Elections

• February 20, 2024 – Spring Primary (if necessary)
• April 2, 2024 – Spring Election & Presidential Preference Primary
• August 13, 2024 – Primary Election
• November 5, 2024 – General Election

Recent Clerk Communications

• November 13, 2023 – Type A Notice of April 2, 2024 Spring Election
• November 9, 2023 – Monday June 3, 2024, Filing Deadline for Partisan Primary
• November 8, 2023 – UPDATE National Mail Voter Registration Form
• November 6, 2023 – Ballot Timeline for the April 2024 Spring Election and Presidential Preference Primary
• November 2, 2023 – Subject Lines When Emailing State Agencies