Mail It Back Monday – Make Sure Your Absentee Counts

The Madison City Clerk’s Office has issued absentee ballots to 39,213 voters for the November 5 General Election. Over 17,000 of those absentees have yet to be returned to the City Clerk’s Office.

If you plan to return your absentee ballot through the mail, the Clerk’s Office strongly encourages you to do so today. The Clerk’s Office has been hearing from voters that it is taking up to two weeks for their absentee ballot to be delivered to the Clerk’s Office.

Absentee ballots received after Election Day cannot be counted. The postmark does not count. On Election Day, the Clerk’s Office delivers your absentee ballot to your designated polling place to be counted.

The absentee envelope needs to be:

• Sealed
• Signed by the voter
• Signed by the voter’s witness
• Bearing the printed name of the witness
• Filled out with the witness’ address

If you have yet to return your absentee ballot, you have a few options:

• Mail the absentee back to the City Clerk’s Office today.
• Deliver the absentee to Clerk’s Office personnel at any City of Madison in-person absentee voting site during voting hours. In-person absentee voting begins this Tuesday.
• Use one of the city’s 14 secure ballot drop boxes. A team of two poll workers empties the drop boxes daily. Madison's drop boxes are available until 5 p.m. the day before the election.
• If you decide to vote at the polls instead, destroy the absentee that was mailed to you.

The state requires you to return your own ballot. Under the Voting Rights Act, if you need help mailing or delivering your ballot due to a disability, you may get help from a person of your choice. The person providing help may not be your employer, agent of your employer, or officer or agent of your union.

Voters who have returned their absentee cannot vote at the polls on Election Day without committing a felony, even if that absentee is unlikely to be delivered on time.

To track the status of your absentee, visit myvote.wi.gov.

The goal of the City Clerk’s Office is that each eligible voter will be able to cast a ballot and have that ballot counted.