Early in person absentee voting underway; what to know ahead of spring election

PHOTO: Courtesy of WLUK

GREEN BAY, WI (WTAQ) — The statewide spring 2025 election is coming up on April 1, but you can vote early.

Early in person absentee voting began Tuesday.  Green Bay city clerk Celestine Jeffreys says the early in person absentee process has been running smoothly.  However, an unknown group is sending out pre-filled absentee ballot by mail request forms.

“What you need for an absentee request, when you want it just for one election, is a photo ID,” said Jeffreys. “A lot of people are not doing that, so we are having to send those requests back to the voter.”

The City of Green Bay has been mailing out about 100 absentee ballots every day since last Friday. Any piece of mail that does not have a City of Green Bay logo did not come from the city clerk’s office.

If you want to vote absentee by mail, don’t wait until the last minute to request a ballot.

“Because you’re not going to get your ballot on time, and I’m not going to get it back in time,” said Jeffreys. “All ballots have to be returned to the clerk on election day by 8 p.m. Not somewhere floating around the post office, but in my hands.”

Although technically the last day to request an absentee ballot by mail is Friday, March 28, Jeffreys says anyone who wants one should send in their request by this Friday, March 21.

Jeffreys says this election is similar in terms of attention and widespread interest to the election in April 2023.

“We can’t compare it to April of 2024 because that was a federal election,” said Jeffreys. “So April of 2023 would be most comparable and we had close to 26,000 voters.  I feel like we are on track [for this election] to be close to those numbers.”

In anticipation of the election, Clerk Jeffreys has put together an election fact and myth sheet.  

This election includes races for State Superintendent Of Public Instruction, Justice Of The Supreme Court, and a statewide voter ID referendum in addition to other local races.

To see what’s on your ballot and learn more about how to cast your vote, visit myvote.wi.gov.