The views from the International Space Station are incredible, and sometimes can even be patriotic. Photo by NASA
Contents
- Upcoming Learning Opportunities
- WEC Clerks Conference
- Confidential Voter Resources
- Tips for Determining Residency
- Public Notice Reminders
- Make Sure Voters Can Find You - Update Your Info
- Clerk Profile - JoAnn Neinas
- Upcoming Events
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Opportunities to Learn Coming Your Way
Badger Book open houses & TTX, plus in-person MCT Core
WEC staff will be hitting the road in June with information and training sessions for clerks.
Badger Books
If your municipality is interested in purchasing Badger Books but you need more information, let us know. We’ll be hosting open house events in areas where you will be able to interact with the equipment and ask WEC staff any questions you may have.
The Badger Book training team will also debut the newly created Badger Books TTX (tabletop exercise) for municipalities that have used Badger Books for at least one Spring Election and one General Election cycle.
To sign up for one of these Badger Book opportunities, email @email.
In-Person MCT Core I & II
Based on clerk input, the WEC training team is redesigning Municipal Clerk Core Training into a two-part certification series. MCT I is the initial course required for a new clerk to be elections certified. This course gives clerks an overview of what they need to know to run their first election.
MCT II will be offered to clerks who have been through a complete two-year election cycle - two Spring Elections and one General Election - and will dig deeper into more advanced topics. An additional advanced elections certificate will be offered to clerks who attend MCT II training.
We are looking for clerks who would be interested in attending sessions in June and to provide us feedback on these revamped and new trainings.
To attend MCT I, you must have become a clerk after November 5, 2024 and to attend MCT II, you must have become a clerk after November 8, 2022. Sessions will be offered where there is interest and will be scheduled with registrants’ input regarding the timing of the events. To express your interest, email @email and include the following information:
- First and last name
- Municipality and county
- Date you started as a clerk
- Days of the week and times that work best to attend a 3-4 hour training
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Register for Inaugural Elections Conference!
Sign up opened February 3. Reserve your spot today!
We are pleased to announce that registration for the inaugural Wisconsin Elections Commission Clerks Conference – WeC3- is now LIVE! We invite you to join us at the Central Wisconsin Convention & Expo Center in Rothschild on September 30 and October 1. This year’s event promises to be an exciting opportunity for learning, networking, and growth. Register now:Online or see the email from February 3 for the pdf form. The early bird registration period ends June 1.
We are excited to welcome you all to WeC3 and we can’t wait to see you there! If you have any questions, please reach out to us at @email.
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Confidential Voters & the Safe at Home Program
Webinar with DOJ team set for March 5
Clerks looking to learn more about the importance of working with voters who are also crime victims have an excellent opportunity to do so by participating in an upcoming webinar. It will be held on March 5 at 1 p.m.
The WEC is pleased to welcome the Wisconsin Department of Justice’s Safe at Home Program team to the session. They will provide an in-depth look at the Safe at Home Program, including:
- its purpose
- how it functions
- the vital role it plays in protecting survivors of abuse, stalking, and other crimes
Attendees will have the opportunity to hear directly from the Safe at Home Program team and also participate in a brief Q&A session. Afterwards, WEC staff will discuss confidential voter registration, provide updates on confidential voter policies, and address any questions regarding voter security and privacy.
You can sign uphere or on ElectEd.
We look forward to an informative and engaging discussion!
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Determining Voter Residency
Helpful resource available for election workers
It takes 28 days to establish residency at an address in Wisconsin. If a voter has recently moved, confirming how long they’ve been at their current address is crucial to determining where they should vote.
This and other residency scenarios are often encountered on Election Day. The WEC has compiled a resource to help clerks and election inspectors when these situations arise. The Common Residency Scenarios table can be viewed on page 35 of the Election Day Manual: Election Day Manual | Wisconsin Elections Commission
If any registration changes are needed, voters will need an acceptable Proof of Residence (POR) document. Our resource page on voter registration, which includes a list of acceptable POR documents, can be found here: Voter Registration and Proof of Residence | Wisconsin Elections Commission
Proof of Residence may be presented as a hard copy, paper document, or via an electronic device.
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Election Notice Reminders For Spring Election
Deadlines for posting election notices for the April 1 Spring Election are fast approaching and clerks should be aware of these dates:
March 4
- Wisconsin Elections Commission sends Type B notice information and certification of candidates for the Spring Election to county clerks. WEC also sends the Type C notice containing the explanatory statement for the state referendum, as well as resending the Type A notice for the referendum.
- County and municipal clerks publish Type A notice of referenda, if required.
- County clerks send notification of election to municipal clerks as soon as possible after receipt of Type B notice from Wisconsin Elections Commission and after adding any county offices or referenda.
- Municipal clerks publish Type E notice of absentee voting instructions for the Spring Election.
March 31
- County and municipal clerks publish Type B notice of voting instructions and sample ballots for the Spring Election.
- County and municipal clerks publish Type C notice of referenda for the Spring Election, if required.
- Municipal clerks publish Type D notice of the location and hours of polling places for the Spring Election.
To keep track of these deadlines, and many other important dates, clerks are encouraged to make use of the 2025 Calendar of Election Events: Calendar.
The WEC Issues Type A and C Notices for statewide Elections and Referenda. More information on election notices can be found here: Election Notices.
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Make Sure Voters Can Find You!
Check your staff info on MyVote
Maintaining your current 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 Wisconsin. 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.
Bikes rest on the wall of a diner in Brussels.
Photo by R. Jeanette Martin via Creative Commons.
After four-plus decades on the job, Town of Brussels clerk stepping down
“It’s just time,” concluded JoAnn Neinas. After 46 years in the clerk’s chair in the Town of Brussels in Door County, she is now in her last election cycle.
Neinas, 77, has decided to retire at the end of her current term on April 14. However, she won’t be leaving “the office.” Neinas works part time from her home in the town, which is about 15 miles from Sturgeon Bay, the county seat.
“A lot of things are getting more technical, and there is more computer work than I really want to delve into at this point,” said Neinas. And there is a family connection, too: “My daughter just retired, so I thought that Mom should go, too.”
Neinas took the clerk’s job in 1979. She had served as a poll worker before that, so the chaos of Election Day was quite familiar for the new clerk. And in 2002, she embraced additional public service, picking up the role of Town Zoning Administrator after town officials created a new zoning plan. “I said I’d try it back then, and I guess I’m still trying it.”
The Town of Brussels has a population of 1,112, with typically about 850 voters participating in an election. She said the town had 10 absentee voters for the Spring Primary and had about 200 absentee voters in last year’s presidential election.
“I don’t have any office hours, so people call anytime, day or night,” she said. “But I’m fine with that. I know that’s the job.”
Neinas said she isn’t sure how many times she’s been elected over the years – “I never counted it up!” – but she said she and her husband John recently tried to count how many town board meetings she had attended.
“We think it was about 554 monthly meetings,” she said. “But of course there were a lot of other meetings in there, too, so well over 600, I’m sure.”
Though she was on the ballot many times, Neinas never had any opposition for the town clerk role. “Nobody ever ran against me,” she said, and then joked: “I figure they were all smarter than me and they must’ve known what the job was all about.”
What made Neinas want to stay in the clerk’s role for so long? “I just really liked it,” she said. “It’s a part-time job, and I also worked full-time in other jobs at times.”
She estimated the job takes about 15-20 hours a week, but with huge swings on the hours, depending on what is happening at any given time. She said one of the best parts of the job “was on Election Day, seeing all the town people come out to vote. … I also had very good board people, so there was never any problem with that.”
And the worst part of the job? “Honestly, all the changes that the Elections Commission makes,” she said. “I understand that it is needed because of legislation. I just wish some of the legislators would do some elections work so they would better understand things.”
The Town of Brussels is in a “relier” role with Door County, and Neinas credited Door County Clerk Jill Lau as being a great supporter and resource clerks in the county.
Neinas said nothing too odd or weird has happened in the town during an election. “We had a power outage once, but the battery backup on the machine worked fine. We’ve never had to relocate or anything like that.”
She did lament the days when the town was still hand counting its ballots. “We’d have to take our results to the county that night and stand in line with other clerks until midnight,” Neinas said.
She said one of town’s closest calls in terms of providing election results was just last spring, in the April 2024 election that featured a significant snowstorm in Door County. “For some reason we could not transmit our results to the county,” she said. “They just wouldn’t go. So, we had to take our totals in during the snowstorm. With some other towns, we lined up several four-wheel trucks so we could make it to the Government Center (in Sturgeon Bay).”
Husband John, 83, is long retired from his job as an electrician, and as a cheesemaker before that. He also served on the Door County Board of Supervisors for 18 years, so elections have been a part of their family rhythm for a long time.
Neinas said she and John don’t have any big plans for retirement. “Nothing really concrete at this point,” she said. “We are not real big travelers. We’re just going to be relaxing.”
And will she continue to be a poll worker for the town? “It has crossed my mind,” she said with a chuckle. “We’ll see what the new clerk says.”
Upcoming Dates & Deadlines
Upcoming Events
- Mar. 4, 2025 – Last day for electors to begin to acquire residence for the Spring Election. Electors moving after this date may vote from their prior address.
- Mar. 12, 2025 – Deadline for electors to register by mail or online to vote in the Spring Election.
- Mar. 18, 2025 – Start of In-Person Absentee Voting (IPAV) for the Spring Election
- Mar. 20, 2025 – Deadline for municipal clerks to submit voter participation, Inspectors’ Statement data, and Election Reconciliation data for the Spring Primary via WisVote.
- March 22, 2025 – First day to conduct public test of voting equipment
- March 27, 2025 – Deadline for regular & overseas voters to request absentee ballots by mail, online, email, or fax.
Upcoming Elections
- April 1, 2025 – Spring Election