Out-of-town University of Wisconsin students may face troubles in the recall elections this summer after the implementation of new rules for voting this month.

City Clerk Maribeth Witzel-Behl said students have quite a few things to be concerned about in the upcoming recall elections, with new voting rules in effect as of April 20 making it a felony to return an absentee ballot to the clerk’s office and then vote at the polls. Before, it was possible for a voter to change his or her vote if the citizen voted absentee before the absentee ballot was processed.

Additionally, if a voter has voted for more than one gubernatorial candidate, which is called a crossover vote, replacement ballots must be requested by 5 p.m. Thursday before the election.

Witzel-Behl said there is concern because high numbers of students may be leaving town for the summer and may or may not be in Madison to vote in the June or August elections.

“If you are going to temporarily be elsewhere, you can’t go register to vote in a different municipality and then come back and register to vote in Madison,” Witzel-Behl said. “You would have to vote absentee from Madison.”

She referenced an incident last year in which an individual from the area had moved temporarily somewhere else in the state and registered and voted there. The individual was charged with a felony because they had not voted at their permanent address.

According to a statement from UW, other changes in voting rules is a 28-day residency requirement, the elimination of the corroborating witness for voter registration and the requirement that voters sign the poll book.

The statement said the residency requirement might interfere with students’ ability to vote if they are registered in Madison.

Students who registered to vote in Madison but will not return until the fall are advised to vote absentee, the statement said.

“Even if you have a subletter or found someone to sublet your place for the summer or were living in a dorm and have no place in Madison for the summer, if you intend to return in the fall and have registered to vote here, you would be voting absentee,” Witzel-Behl said.

The statement said absentee ballots can be cast in person two weeks before the election. Witzel-Behl said the fastest way to register to vote absentee is directly through the City Clerk’s office. She said ballots must be cast by 4 p.m. Friday before the election.

Witzel-Behl advised students to carefully read the instructions on their ballots carefully and remember to only vote for one candidate for governor in the primary elections.

Additionally, she said students can look up whether they are registered and where, their voting history, whether their absentee ballots have been received by the City Clerk’s office and their local polling place on the Voter Public Access website, vpa.wi.gov.