August 10, 2018 at 3:14 p.m.
Voters must exercise care in casting ballots Tuesday
Partisan primary means no split ticket voting
Voters must exercise care in casting ballots Tuesday
According Oneida County Clerk Tracy Hartman, voting for candidates from more than a single political party will cause the voting machine to kick your ballot out.
"There are actually five parties on the ballot," Hartman said Wednesday. "You have to stay either Republican or Democrat or Libertarian or Wisconsin Green or Constitution (party). You have to choose who you are going to vote for and stay within that party."
This may cause some frustration, as it limits voters from weighing in on all primary races, particularly for those who do not affiliate with any particular political party.
For example, Oneida County voters interested in voting for one of the Democratic candidates seeking to run against Governor Scott Walker in the November election will not be able to also cast a vote for one of the three Republicans running for Oneida County Sheriff.
The ballot voters will see Tuesday will be two-sided, with the races listed by party in columns. The Republican races are listed first, the Democrats second and then the other three parties on the back side.
Not every party has candidates running for every office, Hartman noted.
There is a place at the start of the ballot where voters are asked to select which party they are voting.
"You don't have to, but we encourage everyone to," Hartman said. "For example, if you connect the arrows to vote Republican, and you vote Republican but you don't realize that you have jumped over and voted in a Democratic race, the machine will automatically count your Republican ones and throw away your Democrat votes because you've told it you are voting Republican."
Not marking one of the five arrows and doing the same thing will result in the machine kicking the ballot out as spoiled, she added.
"You get three ballots, so you can screw up once or twice, but on that third time you better get it right," she said.
While her husband, Grady, is one of the three Republicans running for sheriff in this election, Hartman said she will be working Tuesday night answering phones, due to staffing levels in the clerk's office.
When the Board of Canvass meets later to certify the election, her chief deputy Heidi Nehls will take her place to avoid any possible allegations of conflict of interest or other impropriety, she added.
Jamie Taylor may be reached via email at jamie@rivernews online.com.
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