Election clerks tell it like it is

Postponed for two weeks when the area was socked with mid-month snow, the presentation “What Election Clerks Want Voters to Know: A Community Conversation” finally brought a trio of municipal clerks together with an attentive crowd last Friday, March 27 at the Rhinelander District Library. The event was co-sponsored by the library and the League of Women Voters of the Northwoods (LWVNW).

Oneida County clerk Tracy Hartman, Rhinelander City clerk Austyn Zarda and Newbold town clerk Kim Gauthier joined facilitator Jane Banning of the LWVNW on the nonpartisan panel. They shared their experiences in holding elections, stressed rules to keep in mind when preparing to vote, and encouraged the use of the voting resources at MyVote Wisconsin (https://myvote.wi.gov) and Vote411 (https://www.vote411/org).

Among the pointers the clerks shared with the audience of about 25 people was to know ahead of time what will be on your ballot and what it means. “I think back to a lot of these constitutional referendums that we’ve had in previous years,” said Zarda. “Don’t expect a poll worker to be able to explain these legal statutes and what this actual amendment means to you. We legally cannot.”

Did you know you shouldn’t talk about your political position at the polling place? “It’s considered electioneering, and that is not allowed in a polling place,” said Gauthier. “You can do that a hundred feet out of the entrance if you would like to, or better yet, do it at the coffee shop or with your family on a holiday.”

Hartman asked for some grace from voters on the big day. “Poll workers deal with a lot on election day,” she said. “They have a lot of angry people that come in, so be the one that comes in and isn’t angry and frustrated with the line or with the waiting or with the ballot or that you had to show your photo ID or that you don’t like that it’s raining outside. 

“Just be patient. They are doing their best to get everybody through, but to make sure that everybody that gets through has done what they need to and that the ballots are counted. They’re doing their best to make sure that the election is accurate and legal, and yelling at them isn’t going to help.”

Each of the clerks summed up for the River News what they most want voters to know.

“I would say before election day, check your voter registration,” said Hartman. “Make sure that you are registered and your information is accurate. 

“If you have received an absentee ballot, don’t wait until two days before the election to return it. Get that returned and make sure that you follow the instructions on the absentee ballot and the certificate envelope so that everything is accurate so your ballot can be counted.”

“I think being proactive about making sure that you’re registered to vote,” said Zarda, “making sure you know what’s on your ballot, making sure you know where the polling place is and just kind of how the process works, making sure that you have your photo ID and you’re prepared for when you get to the front of the line and you want to cast your ballot (are all important). 

“Another thing I think is very important for folks to know is that our elections are secure,” he added. “They’re transparent.  Clerks are ready and willing and mandated by law to offer opportunities for folks to see how the election process works, whether it’s coming to the open test to see how the machines work, whether it’s observing as we conduct absentee voting in the clerk’s office or whether it’s observing at the polling place. We have plenty of opportunities for folks to find out how our elections work and that they’re safe and secure. 

“I would say just really plan ahead,” said Gauthier. “Research what is on your ballot and plan ahead so when you get to the polls on Election Day, you know what you’re voting for. People can find their sample ballot either at a posting board in their municipality, on the town’s website, or on MyVote. It’s another really quick, easy way to find out what’s on your ballot.

“The other important aspect is for the voter to feel confident that Wisconsin election laws do a really good job at making sure it’s a secure election, and that the municipal clerks are following the election laws as defined in statute.”

Wide-ranging Q&A session

The panel fielded a variety of questions from the audience. Some of the highlights follow.

What are the particulars of dropboxes?

Gauthier: I feel honestly like our town is a really good model of that ... Because we are fortunate to have a newer building, we designed the building with a dropbox slot right on the side of the building … and that chute goes right into a secured box in a secured closet in my office, which is also locked, so I don’t think it could get much more secure than that … not every municipality has them, and for some it wouldn’t probably be a good situation, but it’s really up to your municipality.

Zarda: I’m a huge proponent of our dropbox, and I think the reason I am is because it empowers voters and allows people to make their voice heard and makes people more confident that their ballot is going to be received by the clerk before 8 p.m. on election day.

When they did go away a couple years ago, as it was kind of in legal courts, we had a ton of voters come in and express they want the dropbox back. It made things a lot more efficient because a lot of people want to make sure that their ballot is turned in to the clerk’s office as soon as possible ... So this gives them a way after work for them to turn that absentee ballot in, especially if it gets closer to the election and they’re not sure if that ballot is going to be received and processed through the postal system.

What keeps somebody from hacking into Badger Books, and what happens if there’s a power outage or technical failure?

Zarda: Badger Books are not connected to the internet … all it is, is an electronic version of back in the day when you had the two (poll book) binders in front of you.You sign one, the poll worker signs one. That’s all this electronic poll book is. It is not connected in any way to the machine that actually counts and tabulates the vote. All it is, is a compilation of every single registered voter within the state of Wisconsin … It is a very, very secure internal network where the computers are connected to each other, but again, they are not connected to the internet ... it makes things much, much more efficient for the poll worker, for the clerk.

... We fortunately have generators and backups and whatnot ... state law requires us, if we have Badger Books, that we also have the backup paper poll books. So we can always, on a dime, switch back to doing paper. Of course, that involves a lot, but we do prepare for that just in case it does happen  ... Even if it’s by candlelight, voters are still going to be able to cast their ballot that day. 

What happens if I live half of the year in Rhinelander and half of the year in Arizona, and I request an absentee ballot and vote here, and then I go in person to my polling place in Arizona and vote there, too?

Hartman: It’s illegal, don’t do it, and you will get caught ... since I’ve been the county clerk, we’ve had I believe it’s three instances of voters that have voted in Oneida County, and then went and voted somewhere else, and they were caught, and they were prosecuted … That is one of the reasons, I believe, that we keep things for 22 months, is because it takes time to get caught … the voter might think they got away with it, but three, six, nine months later, when Wisconsin and the other states start cross-checking things, it is going to be found. So don’t do it. It will be found, you will be prosecuted, whether it’s by Oneida County or the other location.

Could somebody clarify physically what happens to my absentee ballot?

Hartman:  When your ballot is returned to your clerk, first your clerk is going to record the date that your ballot was returned, and it should be recorded into MyVote so that you can go on and see it. Every clerk is going to have a different place where they store the ballot, but it is going to be stored securely with all the other absentee ballots that are returned, so it should be stored in a secure locked location so that nobody else can access it. And then on Election Day … every clerk’s going to do it slightly differently, but in Crescent I have them in a tote that is secured and there’s a form that goes on there that I fill out saying ‘hey these are the ballots that I’ve received, nobody has tampered with them’, I don’t exactly remember all the language on the form, and then that goes out to the polling location. The poll workers will then verify that it hasn’t been unsealed from the time I sealed it until they received it, and then they will go through those ballots. They’ll make sure that you’re then marked into the poll books as having returned your ballot, so they’re going to count it in the poll books and then two poll workers will work on the ballots.They will open the ballot, make sure that it’s unfolded, and then they will be the ones that insert it into the machine. So they’ll work on that together to make sure that those ballots are counted. … In the state of Wisconsin, absentee ballots can only be counted on election day … during the same time that regular ballots are counted.

There have been a lot of politicians here in the state and also nationally who have inferred or actually said that there’s been widespread election fraud due to mail-in voting. Is there any evidence at all of that in the state of Wisconsin or nationally? Is there any significant amounts of voter fraud that you’re aware of, that as clerks you have been advised of?

Gauthier: I would say that there are so many checks and balances in Wisconsin. A ballot won’t even leave our office unless we have a request. And then the ballot comes back and we record that. So there’s such a record-keeping process, and then on Election Day there’s a reconciliation process; the clerk says we have X amount of absentee ballots, you know, is that accurate? And so we’re constantly counting in Wisconsin.

If that Save America Act were to pass, it would be up to each of you to register and to certify that every voter is a citizen every time they register, re-register, or vote. What does that mean to your offices and your time?

Hartman: As election workers, I believe it is our job to enforce the laws. And so if the Save America Act passes, it is our job, and we will work with the state to ensure that we follow the rules … we as election workers believe firmly that we have rules to follow and laws to follow, and we will make sure that they’re followed. And regardless of what the legislature or state or federal throws at us, we’re going to make sure that everybody has the opportunity to vote and that we follow the rules to get them there.

Zarda: And knowing that we’re from Wisconsin and election laws seem to change pretty frequently here in Wisconsin, especially in the past decade or so, I think our election officials have done, and not tooting my own horn, this is for all poll workers and all election officials in the state of Wisconsin, we’ve done a really good job of kind of rolling with the punches that we know law changes are coming. 

We’re always prepared. We get almost, it seems like, daily emails from the Wisconsin Election Commission letting us know, hey, something’s coming down the pipeline … so we’re always preparing for these legal changes. The Election Commission is there to represent clerks, so they’re able to express their concerns when they speak to elected officials. So we’re always actively preparing for stuff. But regardless, whatever law that is passed, it’s our job as a municipal clerk to uphold that law. So we’re going to make it work no matter what, but we really leave that to the elected officials because they’re the ones actually deciphering what is and isn’t a law. We just follow the law at the end of the day, no matter what.

How can a voter find out if their absentee ballot arrived?

Hartman: If you go to MyVote Wisconsin, the clerks have 24 hours after they receive your absentee ballot to get that logged into the WisVote system, and so you can track your ballot there. If you go there and it hasn’t been received, definitely reach out to your clerk. If enough time has passed, give them some time. But if enough time has passed that you really believe it should have been there, give them a call. 

Zarda: There’s the misconception out there, and it usually stems around when we have primaries, whether it’s in August or February, of folks may have sent their absentee ballot in and then all of a sudden, their candidate that they voted for dropped out and endorsed somebody else, or it’s late October and we get the October surprise, whatever it may be, and then all of a sudden you want to change your vote. If you’ve already cast your ballot and it’s been received by the clerk and marked as returned, you can’t go back and undo it. So, just make sure you’re really concrete on who you’re voting for at that time, because once it’s received by us, you cannot go back and change your mind.

If you had an absentee ballot, but you chose not to return it, could you then go in and vote?

Zarda: Yeah, and it’s going to show up on the poll book as absentee issued, but a lot of the times we’ll find out a voter has requested their absentee ballot and it just didn’t get to them, it got lost in the mail or something like that, so then they go in to vote on Election Day. 

Hartman: The poll workers are going to ask you … did you return your ballot? You are going to say no. And then as long as you say no to that question, then yes, they’re going to allow you (to vote). 

Is it too late to be a poll worker for this coming election?

Hartman: Yes. So, in the state of Wisconsin, poll workers are appointed every two years, so the municipality appoints them in odd years, and typically in December-ish is when they will appoint them. That doesn’t mean that municipalities can’t add to that throughout the two years, but it has to go before their board and it has to get approval.

What happens if there are errors or ambiguity on the witness section, or even the voter maybe signed in the wrong place?

Gauthier: When those are coming in to the clerk, we’re looking at that. Are all of the highlighted areas filled out and done properly? And if it wasn’t, I immediately reach out to that voter … I have a standard memo I created, and I’m filling and checking what was missing and sending them a new envelope to certify to get their required voter signature, the witness signature, the witness’s address, and then they’re to correct that and send it back. 

Taking the opportunity to comment during the Q&A portion was Janet Baer, a poll worker for some 25 years in Pelican, who noted the “conscience and consciousness of the duty among all poll workers that I’ve ever been with or talked to.”

“Wisconsin, we’ve got it, we’ve got it figured out,” she asserted. “And we’re lucky to live in this state, I believe … elections in Wisconsin, we’re good.”

Banning summed up to the River News, “Clerks have complex jobs. We just heard about the complexity of what they deal with, not only from dealing with voters and questions, but dealing with laws and legislation that change all the time. So big kudos to clerks who do this job. I think the number of questions from the audience was indicative of how interested people are in all of this and how important it is to voters … Go out and vote on April 7!”

Ardith Carlton may be reached at [email protected].