How to obtain mail-in ballots
By Robert Cloud
Registered voters in Wisconsin have several options when it comes to obtaining and casting absentee ballots.
Voters can request absentee ballots from their city, village or town clerk either by mail, email or in person.
The clerk must receive an application to vote absentee by 5 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 29.
Jackie Beyer, city clerk for New London, encourages people who want to vote by mail to request their ballot as soon as possible, rather than waiting until the deadline.
Requests for absentee ballots must include a copy of the voter’s photo ID.
The deadline for absentee voting in person is Friday, Oct. 30.
Citizens may also request an absentee ballot through the state’s website, myvote.wi.gov.
Voters must provide a copy of their photo ID, which includes a driver’s license, state ID, tribal ID, military ID and some student ID.
A cellphone snapshot of a driver’s license can be downloaded online.
The state’s website provides simple, step-by-step instructions for downloading a photo ID.
The state forwards the request for an absentee ballot to the voter’s municipal clerk, who will then mail a ballot to the voter.
Voters can return their ballots directly to the city clerk’s office, drop them into the utility payment box (at the front entrance in Waupaca and New London) or mail them.
Beyer noted absentee voters must sign and date the return envelopes for their ballots.
They also need to include the signature and address of a witness.
“Can a husband witness for a wife and visa versa? Absolutely,” Beyer said.
Waupaca City Clerk Sandy Stiebs said she reviews the ballot envelopes when they arrive.
If the witness information is not complete, “I try to get a hold of the voters the best that I can,” she said.
Absentee ballots must be received no later than 8 p.m. on Tuesday, Nov. 3.
To learn specific details about receiving an absentee ballot, voters should contact the clerk for the city, village or town where they live.
Towns
• Bear Creek: 715-752-4275 or 715-752-2773.
• Caledonia: 920-667-4773 or 920-279-3401.
• Dayton: 715-258-0930.
• Dupont: 715-853-9092 or 715-754-2492.
• Farmington: 715-258-2779.
• Fremont: 920-446-2777.
• Harrison: 715-445-3362.
• Helvetia: 715-445-2478.
• Iola: 715-570-1058.
• Larrabee: 715-321-1331.
• Lebanon; 920-359-0116.
• Lind: 715-942-2718.
• Little Wolf: 920-596-2143.
• Matteson: 715-460-2345 or 715-823-4825.
• Mukwa: 920-982-9890.
• Royalton: 920-867-2550.
• Saint Lawrence: 715-445-2971.
• Scandinavia: 715-467-2360.
• Union: 920-450-1546.
• Waupaca: 715-256-1450.
• Weyauwega: 920-572-0318.
• Wyoming: 715-754-5437.
Villages
• Big Falls: 715-754-2907.
• Embarrass: 715-823-8525 or 715-823-2371.
• Fremont: 920-446-2411.
• Iola: 715-445-2913 or 715-445-1048.
• Ogdensburg: 920-244-7483.
• Scandinavia: 715-467-0036.
Cities
• Clintonville: 715-823-7600.
• Manawa: 920-596-2577.
• Marion: 715-754-2124.
• New London: 920-982-8500 ext. 101 or 920-982-8521.
• Waupaca: 715-258-4411 or 715-942-9905.
• Weyauwega: 920-867-2630 or 715-412-3639.