With the primary elections upon the state today, city and state officials are confident the extensive election changes starting this year have been successfully incorporated statewide.
In accordance with the federal Help America Vote Act, the State Elections Board has implemented a number of new voting procedures, including a computerized Statewide Voter Registration System. The SVRS is a statewide list of registered voters, intended to be constantly updated to prevent fraud and to facilitate voting.
Of the 72 Wisconsin counties, 21 have implemented the new system before the primaries.
"We expect things to go smoothly for a vast majority of municipalities in the state," said Kyle Richmond, public information officer for the SEB. "We sent SVRS specialists from our staff to areas having trouble, and city clerks did a lot of prepping, putting in a huge amount of hours to get ready."
Richmond added that a few municipalities have inputted corrupted or incorrect data in the system, but that those problems are being solved. Along with SVRS technicians, increased numbers of state elections staff have been assigned to the larger municipalities, such as Milwaukee and Madison, to help the local clerks who have been working extended hours.
The city of Madison could apparently benefit from the extra help, as the city has seen a recent influx in absentee voting.
"Absentee ballots have picked up significantly since students came back to campus," said Maribeth Witzel-Behl, interim city clerk for the city of Madison. "We have received 2,500 absentee ballots so far, along with a steady stream of absentee requests."
Witzel-Behl added that those registering at the polls today will need to present a current and valid Wisconsin driver's license number, a valid Wisconsin ID number or the last four digits of their social security number.
After registering, voters will need an official document to prove residency in the district they are attempting to vote in. Such documents include — but are not limited to — a Wisconsin driver's license, a housing lease or a university-issued photograph ID.
City Council President Austin King said city clerks covering the districts in which University of Wisconsin students will be voting have received official documents listing students living in the residence halls. The lists are required to prove residency for students presenting UW identification.
King himself said he had an interesting experience attempting to vote by absentee ballot last week.
"I couldn't find my lease because I just moved, and it was buried in a box, and I hadn't unpacked everything," he said. "So, I had a colleague and friend vouch for me because any eligible voter in the city of Madison, if you can't find proof of address, can vouch for you."
Yet Bob Delaporte, communications director for the Republican Party of Wisconsin, said the vouching process is a problem and is contributing to fraud in Wisconsin elections.
"In past elections, people would stand outside polling places and ask if anyone needed someone to vouch for them," he said. "The system is supposed to help out a neighbor lady, not just to take people off the street to say, 'This guy lives here.'"
But the vouching system is not new to Wisconsin elections, despite the recent changes.
Even with experiencing the greatest number of electoral changes in decades, Richmond said the primary election is a good test for the new statewide system, as primaries draw lower voter turnout than general elections.
"On Nov. 7, a lot more people will be registering and voting," he said. "We hope to have the system running even more smoothly by then."
