Not too early to think about absentee voting

The primary is Aug. 11 for the Nov. 3 general election
By: 
Warren Bluhm
News Editor

OCONTO — Among the many ways the COVID-19 pandemic has changed normal life is at the ballot box.

Almost two-thirds — about 6,900 — of the 10,675 votes cast in Oconto County in this year’s spring election were absentee ballots, County Clerk Kim Pytleski said last week.

“That’s a significant increase,” Pytleski said. “Municipal clerks who usually may only see a dozen or so absentee voters were hitting requests over a hundred.”

With the next election less than two months away — the fall election primary is Aug. 11 — the clerk wants to get the word out for people who may be voting absentee for the first time.

“I do assume we will have in-person voting in August and November, and if you come to the polls in person, know that we have processes in place to keep the voter and the poll workers safe,” Pytleski said. “While the polling place may look different with masks, sneeze guards, hand sanitizer, etc., the process remains the same.”

Voters can help by practicing social distancing and practicing responsible personal hygiene habits, she said, such as covering a cough.

If voters are worried about appearing in person or worried they could get sick closer to Election Day, then absentee voting is a great option.

“The sooner you make a request for an absentee ballot, the better,” Pytleski said. “We don’t want voters to wait until the deadline to make their request – a by-mail request on the Thursday prior to the election may not make it to the voter in time to be filled out, let alone filled out and returned.”

The surge in absentee ballots this spring was a challenge because many voters had never made an absentee request before. Pytleski and her staff spent a lot of time on the phone helping people navigate the system and get a ballot, including walking voters through the process of uploading a photo ID with their request.

The upside was the fun of interacting with voters who the staff normally would not have had contact with.

“Some were using their smart phones — or, as one person described it, a ‘smarter-than-me phone’ — for the first time, for something other than making calls or playing games,” she said.

Pytleski strongly encourages voters to visit a website called MyVote.wi.gov, a one-stop portal for election-related information.

“The site has everything you need from registering to vote to tracking your absentee ballot status,” she said. “You can register, view your voting history, check your current registration info, update your name and address, request an absentee ballot, find your polling place location, find your elected officials, see what’s on the ballot for an upcoming election (that’s posted a bit closer to the election date) and track your absentee ballot.”

She also said MyVote or a local municipal clerk are the best places to make an absentee ballot request and receive an authentic Wisconsin ballot.

“Mailings from outside groups don’t always match up with Wisconsin’s requirements. Using the Wisconsin form to register or request an absentee ballot saves time in the process,” Pytleski said. “Otherwise the clerk might receive an incomplete request, has to contact the voter and gather the missing information before they can complete the request. These types of delays can make getting your ballot back in time to be counted even harder.”

A completed absentee ballot must be delivered no later than 8 p.m. on Election Day. The U.S. Postal Service recommends absentee ballots be mailed one week before Election Day to arrive in time.

Another option is to vote an in-person absentee ballot with your municipal clerk – often called “early voting.” But Wisconsin technically does not have true early voting. Anything done prior to Election Day is considered an absentee vote – either in person with a clerk or by mail.

“The most important thing I want to stress is that voters can call my office or their municipal clerk with any questions,” Pytleski said. “Clerks are more than happy to answer questions to ensure that every voter has the opportunity to vote and every vote is counted. We’d rather you call and ask versus not vote, or have your vote not count due to a human error.”