2.6 Million Wisconsinites Get Voting Information Packets In Mail

MADISON, WI — State election officials on Thursday announced that information packets regarding voting options for the upcoming general election in November have gone out to 2.6 million registered voters across the state this week.

The packets, which state officials began to be received by voters on Wednesday, prompts voters who choose to receive an absentee ballot to act early and return their ballots early, according to Meagan Wolfe, Wisconsin’s chief election official.

The request deadline is Oct. 29, but voters are encouraged not to wait as Wolfe indicated it may take up to seven days for ballots to arrive and then another seven days for ballots to be returned by mail. All ballots must be received by 8 p.m. on Nov. 3 to be counted.

Voters will also have the option to cast their ballots in person and can also vote absentee within their respective city or town. Wolfe said all three options are “safe and secure ways to vote.”

Voters who choose to vote absentee by mail are encouraged to make their request online at MyVote Wisconsin (https://myvote.wi.gov). The packet includes a paper absentee request form and a postage-paid return envelope for voters without internet access.

Wolfe said that before the coronavirus pandemic, only about 6 percent of Wisconsin voters cast an absentee ballot by mail. For April 2020, that jumped to 60 percent, when 1.1 million of the 1.55 million votes were absentee by mail, state officials announced in a news release. All the statistics are not in yet, but for the August 11, approximately 82% of the 867,000 votes cast were absentee, either by mail or in the clerk’s office.

Wolfe said more than 3 million residents statewide are expected to vote in the November election.

The mailing is being paid for with federal CARES Act grant funds. The Elections Commission authorized spending up to $2,252,035 for the mailer, which includes $270,000 for printing, officials said. The final cost is not known because it depends upon how many voters use the postage-paid return envelope. Wolfe said she expects the mailing to come in significantly under budget

The mailing and the request form emphasize that voters who request an absentee ballot must provide a copy of their acceptable photo ID, such as a Wisconsin driver license, state ID card, passport, veteran’s ID card, military ID, student ID or certificate of naturalization.

Voters who use the paper request form will need to include a copy of their photo ID, either a photocopy or a picture. Voters who do not submit a copy of their photo ID will be notified of the error but will not be mailed a ballot until they do. Voters who are not registered to vote or are not eligible will not receive a ballot.