Absentee ballots are ready to be sent to Wisconsin voters. PC: Fox 11 Online
BROWN COUNTY, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) — By Thursday, all absentee ballots for those across Wisconsin who have already requested them will have been sent out.
“A mailed ballot is no different than if you come into the village offices and vote early,” says Michelle Seidl, the clerk for the village of Bellevue in Brown County. “The ballot is the same ballot you’d receive if you came in on election day, but this allows us to send it to you. A lot of people use that opportunity so that they have a little bit of time to do their homework so they know who they want to vote for.”
Seidl says requests for absentee ballots have been growing in the more than 10 years she’s been involved in the election process with a handful of municipalities.
During the pandemic, absentee ballots especially spiked, for obvious reasons.
In the 2020 election, more than half of Bellevue’s voters utilized an absentee ballot, either voting by mail or voting early.
While no excuse is needed to receive an absentee ballot, Seidl says voters often choose the method for security.
“Because it’s being mailed, it’s considered a safer way because the US Postal Service, being a federal agency, has to deliver those ballots, and sending them back to us obviously is the same route,” she says.
Absentee ballots can be requested up until five days before the general election, in this case, that’s October 31st. But Seidl says by then, you’ll likely need to drop it off if you want your vote to count.
“The mailing time is not quick, make sure you’re not mailing it out the week before the election, please just don’t do that, there’s a possibility we won’t get it on time,” she urges voters.
If you request an absentee ballot anytime within 47 days of the election, your municipality has 24 hours to get your ballot in the mail.
If you’re dropping off your absentee ballot, most communities once again have ballot drop boxes.
In 2022, Wisconsin’s Supreme Court implemented a near-total ban of ballot drop boxes, after ruling that unsupervised drop boxes were illegal. However, that ruling was overturned this July.
“The drop box we have is the same drop box we have for utility payments,” says Seidl. “And it comes right into our office, so it’s secure.”
Along with Bellevue, Green Bay, Appleton and Oshkosh say they will all have just one ballot drop box in their communities for the November election.
Despite their security, Seidl knows there are reservations.
“I think people are hesitant, so I’ll be interested to see how many really utilize drop box because I think there’s still a little bit of chaff left over from that concern and a lot of people don’t want to take that risk.”
For those voting by mail, she leaves you with final bits of advice.
“Make sure that it’s witnessed properly, make sure your signature is on it, make sure the addresses are complete because if not, your ballot won’t be counted if we don’t have enough time to try and rectify it with you.”
Seidl also urges voters to put their phone number and email address on your absentee ballot application, so they have a way to contact you should there be an issue with your ballot.
If you request an absentee ballot and decide not to utilize it, you’re urged to properly destroy it by shredding or burning it.
More information on absentee ballots can be found by clicking here.
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