Training Q&A

Your assignment e-mail on October 16 will have a link for the webinar replay.

Record that you have completed the training through your training portal. 

Chief Inspectors will get the link to their Zoom training through their training portal.

Questions from Training

If asked, are we able to read the referenda questions aloud to the voter? Yes, but avoid showing any approval or disapproval in your tone of voice.

Are we moving to Badger Books?
No, we are not.

Should we let voters know about the accessible voting machine? 
Yes. We recommend asking the voter if they would like to mark their ballot using a pen or using a printer. Both options have a paper trail.

If a voter cannot sign the poll book, do we note anything in their signature box?
If the voter cannot sign the poll book due to a physical disability, we write "Exempt by Order of Inspectors" in the signature box. If the voter cannot sign the poll book because they are an absentee voter, leave the signature box empty.

Is an electronic copy of a voter ID acceptable? What if the DMV issued an electronic receipt?
We checked with the City Attorney. The ID needs to be printed.

If a voter moved from elsewhere in Wisconsin within 28 days of the election and their old address is too far away, can we issue them a provisional ballot?
No. There are only two reasons we can issue a provisional ballot. 1. The voter does not have an acceptable voter ID. 2. The voter is registering at the polls and does have proof of their address, but they are unable or unwilling to write down the number of their current and valid Wisconsin driver license.

Is an out-of-state license acceptable for proving a voter's identity if they are in the poll book with a Madison address?
No. Wisconsin's voter ID law does not accept driver licenses or ID cards from other states.

How do we get credit for this training?
Your assignment e-mail has instructions for completing the training quiz in your Modus portal.

Will poll workers be able to leave the polling place to cast their vote at their own polling location on Election Day?
Yes, but it will be easy to lose track of the time because you'll be so busy on November 5. You might consider voting absentee just to be certain that you'll have time to vote.

Are two election official signatures required on the registration form?
In the City of Madison, yes. We require two signatures because we need two sets of eyes to make sure every form is complete. This has greatly reduced the number of incomplete voter registration forms we receive on Election Day.

If someone is on probation or is a felon, does that mean they cannot vote?
If someone is on probation for a felony, they cannot vote until they finish serving that sentence. If they are on probation for something other than a felony, that does not affect their right to vote.

Who tells a felon that they cannot vote?
The Department of Corrections communicates that information. At the polls, though, you are checking every new registration against a list of ineligible voters for that ward. If someone on that list is registering to vote, contact your Chief Inspector. The Chief Inspector will contact the Wisconsin Elections Commission to verify whether the individual is now Off Paper. If unable to verify this, you would begin the Challenge Process.

If a pre-filled registration form is incomplete, can the applicant fill out the needed information with a pen at the polls?
Yes, that would be fine.

I am a high school poll worker. Can I sign as the official on a voter registration form?
Absolutely. The only poll worker task a high school poll worker cannot complete would be to challenge a voter.

Are we poll workers allowed to be the assistant for a voter who is unable to sign their own name or make their own mark on the registration form?
Yes, you are.

What is considered a utility bill?
A utility bill could be a water, gas, electric, cable, internet, or phone bill issued within the last three months. These bills often are electronic, and it is okay for the voter to show the bill on their cell phone.

What do we do when a residential lease does not have an account number to provide on the registration form?
If there is no account number, we leave the account number section of the voter registration form blank.

For registration, could an electronic image of a driver license be used as proof of address?
Yes, any proof of address may be electronic.

If a voter used a residential lease for proof of address, must the lease begin on our before October 8, 2024?
No. The residential lease just needs to be in effect on Election Day. Proof of address does not need to be 28 days old. 

Will the poll workers appointed by political parties who are processing absentees have processed absentees before?
Yes, they have been working at the polls this year and would have rotated tasks at the polls in August and in April.

What happens if a voter is in the possibly "contaminated" area of the voting room if powder is found in an absentee envelope, and they insist on leaving?
Kindly ask them to wait for emergency personnel to arrive. If they refuse, try to get their contact information so emergency personnel can follow-up with them.

If the only place to wash your hands is outside the voting room, could we be spreading contamination?
As long as you were not within 30 feet of suspicious powder, please wash your hands outside the voting room. When emergency personnel arrive, they will follow-up with you.

How do we know if someone is deceased?
Before the poll books are printed, the Clerk's Office regularly reviews potential matches between voter registration records and Wisconsin death records. They inactivate registrations for voters who have passed away. After poll books are printed, if the Clerk's Office knows that an absentee voter has passed away, they attach a note to that absentee envelope. We try to schedule poll workers to work at polling places in their own neighborhoods. If you know for sure that someone in your neighborhood died right before Election Day, reject that absentee. If you heard a rumor that someone may have passed away, use the Challenge Process.

If an absentee certificate is incomplete and we set it aside, do we attempt to contact the voter?
The Clerk's Office attempts to contact these voters. If you know they voter, you may contact them, too.

If someone is on life support, do we still count their absentee ballot?
Yes.

If an absentee ballot has already been checked in and the voter tries to check in at the poll book, how do we document that?
We tell the voter that we have processed their absentee. We can even show them the absentee certificate envelope. Document this on the incident log. Call the Clerk's Office if you have any questions.

Will masks and gloves be supplied for workers processing absentee ballots?
Yes, they are in the clear bag of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) that is delivered to your polling place in the security cart.

Will the bipartisan team of poll workers be remaking absentee ballots?
Yes, we should have enough teams scheduled that they will have time to process the absentees and remake absentee ballots as needed.

Should ballots with red or green pen automatically be remade, or should we run them through the tabulator first?
Automatically remake any ballots marked with red or green pen. We cannot guarantee that the tabulator will be able to pick up all the marks made with red or green pens.

Is a clerk allowed to fill in missing information on an absentee envelope, such as a complete zip code?
No, we cannot fill in any part of the witness address. The most recent court ruling about the witness address says that a witness address is complete if it contains enough information for the City Clerk to be able to figure out where to communicate with the witness. A zip code is not required.

Where do we document that a voter hand-delivered their absentee ballot?
This gets documented on the third page of the Absentee Inspectors' Statement.

Can a family member turn in an absentee for a voter who has a disability?
Yes. If the voter determines that they need assistance returning their absentee due to a disability, they may ask anyone other than their employer or union agent/representative to help.

What do we do if a voter wants to hand-deliver their ballot, but the certificate is incomplete?
Check the certificate before accepting the absentee. If they are trying to give you an absentee envelope that is incomplete, do not accept the absentee. Tell them they can either come back with a complete certificate, or they can vote at the polls instead.

Are tabulators tested before Election Day to verify that they are counting the votes correctly?
Yes, we test every single tabulator, every single memory stick, every ballot style, every office and referenda question on the ballot, and every candidate on the ballot. After each election, the Dane County Clerk's Office audits the accuracy of our election equipment for several reporting units; this always includes the City of Madison. After every November election, the Wisconsin Election Commission requires a post-election voting system audit for at least one reporting unit in every county; this always includes the City of Madison.

Would a learner's permit issued by the Wisconsin DOT be an acceptable form of Voter ID?
Yes, as long as its expiration date is after 11/8/2022.

Why can't we just circle the type of proof of residence at the bottom of the registration form?
Our What, Who, 4 or 2 documentation helps speed up our data entry. When we are processing 30,000 registration forms, every second makes a difference.

Don’t we need to record the voter slip number on the registration form?
The second registration official documents the voter slip number on the registration form and the poll list. The voter slip isn't issued until the voter has shown their ID.

Does the new registration poll list need to be at the poll book table?
Your chief inspector will determine the best set-up for your polling place. We need the official checking proof of address to be completely separate from the official checking ID and assigning a voter number. This helps avoid confusion about the different requirements for registration and for voting. It also helps minimize confusion about what counts as proof of address and what counts as ID.

What happens if someone refuses to sign the poll book even though they say they are able to?
If someone refuses to sign but is capable of doing so, they cannot vote.

What is the difference between “reasonably conforms” and “exactly matches" for voter ID?
The legal standard is “reasonably conforms” and that is what we must use. We know that “Bob” conforms with “Robert,” and “Peg” and “Meg” conform with “Margaret.”

Why can’t we pre-initial ballots when it is very busy? Why can’t we at least put the first set of initials on the ballot?
The Wisconsin Elections Commission has given crystal-clear instructions that there must always be two workers at the ballot table and that neither set of initials can go on the ballot until the voter is present. We will all follow these rules no matter what our personal opinions may be. This process is not debatable.

Shouldn't you reject an absentee if the voter is on the ineligible list?
In the unlikely event that an absentee voter’s name appears on the ineligible list, the Chief Inspector will check with the Wisconsin Elections Commission (WEC). If WEC does not respond that the individual is now Off Paper, we initiate the challenge procedure.

Can we get more de-escalation training?
Yes! Thanks to the Madison Police Department for providing this training video. You might also want to try the beta version of Election Day: The Game, a simple web-based game about how to de-escalate situations that come up at a polling place.

What is the procedure if a person comes to the polls with an open absentee ballot and says they want to change it?  
We will not accept delivery of an open absentee ballot. We would tell the voter to return the ballot to their vehicle and destroy it, then come back into the polling place to check into the poll book and vote in person.

What precautions are being taken to protect poll workers on November 5?
City and County emergency management personnel have worked with the Cybersecurity & Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) to prepare for Election Day.

What do we ask voters whose names are highlighted on the poll book? Do we ask if they received an absentee ballot, or if they returned an absentee?
If a voter's name is highlighted on the poll book, we ask if they returned their absentee. We note their answer in the margin of the poll book. If they did return their absentee, they may not vote at the polls.

Do we need to ask voters to state their city and zip code at the poll book?
No. Voters should state their name and street address. We know the city is Madison. We are not concerned about the zip code at the poll book.

Can a voter take a picture of their ballot?
You are allowed to take a picture of your ballot, but sharing a picture of your marked ballot is not allowed. It isn't our job as poll workers to monitor what each voter is doing with their phone, though. If a voter forgot their reading glasses, they might use the camera on their phone to enlarge the print they are reading on the ballot. Observers may not take photos or video during voting hours, though.

Can we refer Spanish-speaking voters to the ExpressVote machine?
Yes, the ExpressVote offers Spanish translation.

Will all wards have ExpressVote machines?
Yes, they will.

Just to clarify, refusing to sign the poll book is different from being unable to sign the poll book.
You are correct. If a voter is unable to sign the poll book due to a physical disability, we write "Exempt by order of inspectors" in the signature box.

Are we going to have enough time to process absentee ballots on Election Day?
Yes, you can start processing absentees as soon as you get through the initial morning rush. With nearly 4,000 people working at City of Madison polling places, we will be able to split the poll books to keep the lines short, even for processing absentees.

What if someone presents a WI driver license or ID that says "Limited Term" or "Non-Domiciled?"
We have new guidance from the Wisconsin Elections Commission (WEC) on this. WEC has provided a script for poll workers. 

If we see "Limited Term" or "Non-Domiciled" on a Wisconsin driver license or ID, we are to say, "The Department of Motor Vehicles has indicated that your ID is issued to lawful temporary visitors to the United States who are not United States citizens. Do you have with you your naturalization certificate, U.S. passport or other document that shows you are a United States citizen?" If they present a naturalization certificate, U.S. passport or other proof of citizenship, we issue a voter slip number and proceed as usual. If they do not have proof of citizenship on them, we begin the challenge process. We cannot refuse to issue a ballot to a voter, or deny them registration, without following the inspector challenge process that is outlined by Wisconsin law.

Aren't the Good Ballot/Bad Ballot stickers kept at the absentee table?
The Good Ballot/Bad Ballot stickers for ballots that poll workers need to remake are now in the ballot table accordion folder.

If there are two marked ballots in an absentee envelope, you reject both of them?
Yes, per the state.

If you reject an absentee because the envelope contains two marked ballots, what happens to the voter slip number that was assigned to that envelope?
Cross out and initial the voter slip number on the poll book for the voter who returned two marked ballots in one absentee envelope. Reassign that voter slip number to the next absentee voter.

If someone experiencing homelessness registers in your ward, doesn't the location at which they are registering need to be in your ward?
Yes, it does.

You mention inviting observers to watch the process of remaking absentees. How do we extend that invitation?
Let the Chief Inspector or Absentee Lead know when you first have absentees to remake. They will extend an invitation to observers in the polling place.

As a poll worker, am I responsible for figuring out every person in the ward who has died since the last election?
No. If you know that someone has died, that would be cause for rejecting an absentee. The Clerk's Office inactivates voter registrations and associated absentees based on state death records. If a voter returned an absentee and then the Clerk's Office learns that the voter has died, we send the absentee to the polls with a note that the absentee needs to be rejected.

Pro Tip: Write the time on the absentee bundle sheet you fill out for each completed bundle of absentees. It will save you a lot of time if your numbers get off and you need to double-check the absentee envelope processed during a certain timeframe.
That's a great tip! Thank you! The absentee bundle sheets used to be small pink slips of paper. You now have a small white tablet of these sheets in the front pocket of the absentee binder.

When we bring three absentee ballots to the poll book, should we let voters who enter the polling place go ahead of us?
No. For the sake of transparency, continue processing absentees even if voters enter the room. If we suddenly jump away from the poll book when a voter enters, that could seem suspicious.