August 1, 2022 at 11:54 a.m.
Minocqua to debut new voter check-in system
Badger Books will replace the traditional poll books
Minocqua to debut new voter check-in system
Town clerk Roben Haggart and her crew of poll workers are preparing to debut the electronic poll book system known as "Badger Books."
Five of the electronic stations, five printers, a server and a router were purchased by the town for $7,500.
Haggert said most of the cost was paid for through a grant from the Wisconsin Elections Commission (WEC).
"I got in on a really good deal," she noted..
The system has been available for two years and Haggart, who said she's been to training sessions for the system and has talked to other clerks for municipalities large and small who have used it, said the system allows voters to "literally go to any machine" without having to look for the district they live in or go by alphabet as has been done with the old poll books.
The old books will be on "standby status" in the event of something such as a power outage, she added.
With the new machines, Haggart said a voter may go to any one of them and "it'll print out what ballot you get and we'll have a ballot table."
"It really eliminates human error," she said. "100%."
Last week, Haggart had the five machines, which can communicate with each other but will not be internet accessible, set up in the gymnasium of the Minocqua community center for a training session for poll workers, including Minocqua town secretary Lynn Wildes.
"I think they're great," Wildes said. "It'll make registration faster, easier and much less confusing than the (traditional) poll books. Many other municipalities in the state already have them. We're kind of getting in on the later end of getting them."
Although Minocqua is the first town in Oneida County to have the new system set up, Woodruff has three of the Badger Book stations and supporting equipment on order. Town clerk Julie Huotari said Woodruff's Badger Books should be ready for use in the April 2023 election.
Vilas County clerk Kim Olkowski said there's been talk among the different towns, and the City of Eagle River, regarding Badger Books but no one has committed to purchasing the system at this time.
"I think some of it is they're waiting to see how other towns do with it," she said.
Oneida County clerk Tracy Hartman said when Badger Books first came on the scene, she was contacted by several town clerks from around the county asking her what she thought and if they should commit their town to switching to Badger Books.
"There was the unknown but it wasn't just the unknown with the cost but 'Is it gonna work?'" she said. "There were towns that jumped on the bandwagon right away and the WEC was sending emails saying 'We're working with this system' and 'Yes, this crashed but we're fixing it' but now, this last year, it's gotten really good reviews from county clerks I've contacted who've been using the system."
Hartman said she believes there will be more towns, and the City of Rhinelander, in Oneida County that will move toward Badger Books in the future but for now, she echoed Olkowski.
"I think they're waiting to see how it works," she said. "They were waiting to see who would be the first."
Brian Jopek may be reached via email at [email protected]
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