Last minute: reminders for Feb. 18 election

The Brillion News

MADISON – Voters across Wisconsin will have a Spring Primary for Supreme Court on Tuesday, February 18, according to the Wisconsin Elections Commission (WEC).

In addition, there will be 96 primaries for county, school district, city, village and town officials, according to data compiled by the WEC. There will be five local referendums on the ballot .<!-

Photo ID required

Most people already have the ID they need to vote.Acceptable photo IDs for voting include a Wisconsin driver license or Wisconsin state ID card, Veterans Health Administration ID card, military ID card, U.S. passport, tribal ID card and some student ID cards.

Voters who do not receive a state ID card by Election Day can still use the receipt issued by the DMV. A full list of acceptable photo IDs is available at www.BringIt.WI.gov.&nbsp;Wolfe reminds voters that the address on their photo ID does not need to match the address on the poll book.

Also, voters should know that all Wisconsindriver licenses and state ID cards work for photo ID, regardless of whether they have the “Real ID” star on them, Wolfe said.

Checking your registration

The WEC urges voters to visit the MyVote Wisconsin website (https://MyVote.WI.gov) to check their registration status, see what’s on their ballot and find their polling place.

They can find voter information by putting in their name and date of birth. ANyone not yet registered may search by their home address to see what’s on the local ballot and where to vote.

If you know you are registered but cannot find yourself on the MyVote Wisconsin website, it is possible that there’s a typo in your name or date of birth preventing the website from finding your record.

Also, some addresses are not yet in MyVote because no one has previously registered to vote there. If MyVote cannot find your record or your address, please contact your municipal clerk’s office or the Wisconsin Elections Commission. Contact numbers are on the MyVote website.

No voters have been removed from the voter registration list because of a recent court case involving a mailing to voters who may have moved. In October 2019, the WEC mailed letters to more than 232,000 voters who may have moved according to DMV and post office records.

Poll workers will ask these voters if they have moved. Voters who have not moved will be asked to sign the poll book and affirm that they have not moved before the poll workers issue them a ballot. Voters who have moved must reregister, as required by law. The requirement to reregister is true for all voters who have moved, not just those with the watermark.

What’s on the ballot?

All eligible voters will have the opportunity to vote in the three-way primary race for Wisconsin Supreme Court, which will narrow the field to two finalists for the Spring Election on April 7.

Wisconsin’s presidential preference primary is not on the February 18 ballot. It will be held on April 7 in conjunction with the Spring Election.

Other important reminders:

Absentee ballots must be received by Election Day. If you had an absentee ballot mailed to you, it must be received by your polling place or municipal clerk’s office by 8 p.m. on Election Day (February 18, 2020).

Your voter registration information and your vote are safe. Wisconsin’s voter registration system is secure and encrypted to protect from hackers. All of Wisconsin’s voting systems are paper-based and contain multiple checks and redundancies, including pre-election testing and processes for media, campaign, and election officials to check, audit, and validate the results.

Provisional ballots are available if you don’t have a photo ID. A voter may cast a provisional ballot if the voter does not have a photo ID, forgets to bring a photo ID to the polls, or if the poll workers do not accept the ID for some reason. A provisional ballot is just like a regular ballot, except that it is placed in a special envelope and is not counted unless the voter returns with an acceptable photo ID. The deadlines for fixing a provisional ballot are 8 p.m. on Election Day at the polling place or by 4 p.m. the Friday after the election in the municipal clerk’s office. Voters who left their photo ID at home can also simply retrieve it and then cast a ballot rather than casting a provisional ballot. However, provisional ballots are not available for individuals who are unable to complete their registration.