Vote Absentee
For federal elections, absentee ballots will be in the mail beginning 47 days before the election. For elections that do not include federal offices, absentee ballots will be in the mail beginning three weeks before Election Day. All absentee ballots are sent to the polls to be counted on Election Day.
Voters may verify their registration, polling place, sample ballot, and absentee ballot status at My Vote Wisconsin.
The deadline to request an absentee ballot is 5:00 pm the Thursday before the election, but we recommend making your request as early as possible so there is adequate time to mail the ballot back to the Clerk's Office.
In-Person Absentee Voting
Absentee voting locations are established by the Common Council prior to each election.
Absentee Delivery by Email - Available for Military and Overseas (both permanent & temporary) Voters Only
Military and Overseas Voters: Send your absentee request to voting@cityofmadison.com. Be sure to include your name, address at which you are registered to vote, email address to which the ballot should be sent, and a copy or picture of your voter ID (if not already on file in the Clerk's Office).
You will receive your ballot and absentee certification statement as attachments to an email message. You will need to print the ballot and certification statement on paper and send them back to the City Clerk's Office through the mail. Absentee ballots must be received in the Clerk’s Office in time for delivery to the polls on Election Day.
Overseas Voter Guides from the Wisconsin Elections Commission:
- Federal Postcard Application Guide for Overseas Voters (WEC)
- Federal Write-In Absentee Ballot Guide for Overseas Voters (WEC)
Absentee Delivery by Mail
An Absentee Ballot Request form is available for your convenience, but you are not required to use a form. You may submit an absentee request at My Vote Wisconsin (click on Vote Absentee at the top of the website), or you may send a written request that includes:
Name
Madison address
Address to which the ballot should be mailed
Signature
Copy of voter ID, if not already on file in Clerk’s Office
Send the request via email to voting@cityofmadison.com, or mail the request to:
City Clerk's Office
210 Martin Luther King Jr Blvd, Room 103
Madison, WI 53703
Ballots will be mailed out through the Thursday before the election. Absentee ballots must be received in the Clerk’s Office in time for delivery to the polls on Election Day.
Indefinitely Confined Absentee Ballot
The indefinitely confined category is fitting for voters who, for the foreseeable future, limit travel outside their home because of age, physical illness, or infirmity, or are disabled for an indefinite period. Each voter makes the decision of whether they are indefinitely confined based upon their current situation. Being indefinitely confined does not require permanent or total inability to travel outside of your home.
No copy or picture of your voter ID is needed if you apply for an absentee ballot in the indefinitely confined category. As an indefinitely confined absentee voter, you will continue to receive ballots for every election until you do not return a ballot, or you request to be removed from the indefinitely confined absentee list.
You can apply as an indefinitely confined absentee voter by printing out and mailing in this form:
Indefinitely Confined Absentee Ballot Request
Qualifying Care Facilities
Any voter who resides in a qualifying care facility and requests an absentee ballot will have their ballot brought to their facility by SVDs. This process, known as SVD voting, is the exclusive means of absentee voting for occupants of residential care facilities and qualified retirement homes.
Special Voting Deputies (SVDs) are election officials who are trained and deputized by the City Clerk to perform the duties of SVD voting. SVDs will visit each facility two times in the three weeks prior to each election. The scheduled days and times will be publicly noticed and posted at each facility. SVDs must make two attempts to deliver an absentee ballot before that ballot can be mailed to the voter.
SVD Voting is governed by State Statute 6.875. For more information on SVD voting, please view the Wisconsin Elections Commission guide Absentee Voting in Residential Care Facilities and Retirement Homes.
2022 General Election SVD Visit Schedule
Madison Voters Temporarily Overseas
You may email your absentee request to voting@cityofmadison.com. Your request should include your name, the address at which you are registered to vote, and the email or street address to which we should send the ballot. If you haven't already submitted a copy of your voter ID to the Clerk's Office, you will need to include a picture or scan of your ID with your request.
Your ballot will be included in the first batch of ballots we mail out. For the fastest service, request that we send your ballot to an email address. Sign the certification statement and have an adult (18 or older) sign the certification as a witness. Your witness does not need to be a U.S. Citizen, but they will need to write their address under the witness signature. You will need to mail the absentee ballot, sealed in an envelope with the certification statement attached to the outside of the envelope.
The envelope bearing the certification statement should be sealed in a larger envelope bearing the words, "Absentee Ballot Enclosed." Your name and ward number (found above your name on your absentee envelope) should be written legibly on the mailing envelope. We must receive your ballot by Election Day.