Elections

To open any of the underlined links below, click on it, then click on the line that opens below it…

Want to vote Absentee in 2025? You don’t need a reason. For directions on how to order a ballot, time frame, etc…Click this link: https://myvote.wi.gov/en-us/Vote-Absentee-Guide. It’s easy, safe, and secure at myvote.wi.gov. And please, if you have any questions or you’re unsure of how to order your ballot, please call me (your town clerk, Pat Zellmer) at 715 677 4784, and I’ll walk you through.

Go to MyVoteWisconsin. Once there, you can register to vote, update your name and/or address, track your ballot, find your polling place, AND request ballots for the upcoming year. For anyone who is not indefinitely confined due to age, illness, infirmity, or disability, click Vote Absentee by Mail, follow the simple and easy-to-follow steps, then choose whether you want absentee ballots for the entire calendar year or just specific elections – ballots are mailed out starting 21 days before the spring election. AND Remember, you can choose to vote ABSENTEE IN-PERSON, same process, only you vote at the Clerk’s office starting 14 days before the election, saving the town money for postage (about $2.00 per ballot), and eliminating any concerns about mail delivery…

Elections 2025:

If necessary: Wisconsin Spring Primary Tuesday, February 18, 2025
Spring Primary: Tuesday, April 1, 2025: Local (Town), State Supreme Court, State Court of Appeals (District IV), Wisconsin Superintendent of Public Instruction

The latest on Redistricting for Town of New Hope (effective November 2024 election) – Redistricting Map of Town of NEW HOPE March 2024:

2025 State of Wisconsin Assembly Districts (with Municipalities)

2025 State of Wisconsin Senate Districts (with Municipalities)

Additional information on voting

Absentee Ballots: Voting Absentee Spring 2024
- Mail-in Ballots: Be sure to allow enough time to return your ballot by mail. Remember, you can return your completed witnessed ballot to your town clerk or at the Polls on April 2.
  - Mailed starting 21 days (March 12) before the April 2 Spring/State and Local Contests. If you apply between March 13-28* (last day is 5 days before an election for applications), the ballot will be mailed to you within 24 hours, but that may not be enough time to receive and return the ballot by mail.
  - *For Spring mail-in ballots, the suggested deadline is March 19 to allow enough time to receive and return your ballot. For late applications (March 25-28), it is recommended that you return the completed ballot to your clerk or on Election Day, to the Polling Place.
- Absentee In-Person (aka Early Voting): Between March 18 – March 29 for spring election. Please call me (Pat Zellmer, Clerk, @715 677 4784) for an appointment. You will need a valid photo ID when you come. The advantages of In-Person Absentee?
  - - Your vote is completed at the clerk’s office (by appointment) using ExpressVote prior to election day, then your completed ballot is sealed in an Absentee Ballot Envelope (just like Mail-In Absentee)
    - You skip the mail and any chance of your ballot not arriving on time

Returning your Mail-In Absentee Ballot in New Hope: To count, your ballot must be received no later than 8:00 pm on April 2 – no exceptions.

Allow at least 7 days for mailing. And remember that while the US Post Office does everything possible to deliver mail on time, sometimes the mail is truly Snail Mail…
You can always hand-deliver your Mail-in Ballot to your town clerk OR at the Polling Place…as long as it’s by 8:00 pm on Election Day.
REMEMBER: only you can return your own ballot in person (no substitutes, no exceptions).
If you are unable to physically access the Polls, you can use Curbside Voting, but you must be physically disabled. Please call 715 899 0857 or 715 677 4784 prior to your arrival.
- Please allow enough time to receive your ballot, complete it and have it witnessed, mail it, and get it back to the Clerk before Election Day or at the Polls on April 2.
- NO BALLOTS can be accepted/counted if received after 5:00 pm April 2. No exceptions.

Every ballot cast by Wisconsin Voters has a paper record. That record ensures that election officials can manually compare the paper ballots with the electronic tallies in case of doubts or discrepancies. It’s a safeguard against any potential errors, tampering, or inconsistencies.

Let’s face it, we’re human. Voters can and do make mistakes, resulting in a ballot that may not accurately reflect the voter’s intentions or having the ballot rejected. For example, voters could (and sometimes do):

mark between or outside of ovals,
mark too many choices – called over-voting – for example, when you can vote for two candidates, but you accidentally mark three choices ,
mark too few choices – called under-voting – like when you can choose two candidates, but you only mark one (and for the record, under-voting is a legitimate option),
accidentally skip or miss a race or referendum on the ballot…

And as we are all aware, ballot counting by hand is not as easy as it sounds. Although those ballots are counted and recounted (and then stored in case a another recount is required), imagine how you might try to count a ballot where someone over-voted, or marked between the ovals…it can be a real challenge. Our poll workers are well-trained, and are committed to making every voter’s votes count, but sometimes a vote or entire ballot must be disqualified (although that paper ballot is kept in a separate envelope) after all that effort and good intent by everyone…

To alleviate those issues, and to make voting even more accurate and secure here in New Hope, we’ve switched to Voting Machines – tabulators, ballot marking devices, and electronic poll books. Sound scary? A bit intimidating? No worries. We have you covered. Thanks to the great voters and poll workers, we’ve had a great success so far.

Four things to take away from this:

Someone will be available to help you in ANY or ALL steps along the away, and answer ANY and ALL questions you might have. You only need to ask…
NONE OF THES MACHINES ARE CONNECTED TO THE INTERNET or the Phones. Not in set-up, not in running, not in counting or transmission of the results…
NO ONE BUT YOU TOUCHES YOUR BALLOT, from the time you get your ballot until the time you run it through the tabulator. No one but you…
All the machines are tested, re-tested, and tested again, with many eyes watching what’s being done. WE ALL WANT THE SAME THING: that EVERY VOTE on EVERY BALLOT is counted, exactly as you marked it…

NEW HOPE has switched to Voting Machines – tabulators, ballot marking devices, and electronic poll books. Sound scary? A bit intimidating? No worries. We have you covered. Here’s what we’ll use:

BADGERBOOKS Electronic Poll Books – In Wisconsin electronic poll books, also known as “Badger Books,” is an electronic version of the paper poll book and serves the same functions as the paper poll book. It is used to check in voters, process Election Day Registrations, and record absentee voting participation. Here’s a video to help: https://vimeo.com/675553234

DS200 Tabulator – Tabulators read the paper ballots inserted into them and electronically tabulate or count and add up the votes for each candidate and contest on the ballot. The Tabulator is not connected to the internet…only to an electrical plug in. Numerous studies have found that tabulators are more accurate and much quicker than hand counting by humans. They are used in every Wisconsin municipality with a population of over 7,500, and most smaller municipalities are switching over, including New Hope. Here’s a video to show you how it works (watching the Sara Lee commercial is optional). This video shows marking paper ballots, but remember, following Wisconsin law, (for anything but Absentee Ballots) you’ll use the ExpressVote to mark your ballots. All else is the same. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yj6KpT23UnQ&ab_channel=CityofVaBeach

EXPRESSVOTE Ballot Marking Devices – Ballot marking devices (sometimes also called accessible voting equipment) are required by law to be available at every polling place in Wisconsin. This equipment provides assistance to voters to help them mark their selections on their ballot, and includes a touchscreen to help voters (including those with disabilities) to navigate making their selections to vote privately and independently. After using a ballot marking device, voters are able to review their selections on a paper ballot or paper record before having their ballot read by the tabulator. ExpressVote offers 12 different languages, can brighten the screen, enlarge the print, or show white letters on a black background for vision-impaired voters, and has an audio feature if a voter needs the choices read. Here’s a video to show you how. https://www.essvote.com/blog/video/video-expressvote-how-to-vote/

Testing of Voting Machines: It is important to know that all voting equipment in Wisconsin is required to be tested before each election. Additionally, after every November election, election officials conduct post-election equipment audits to ensure the accuracy of the voting equipment.

Remember: Only you, the voter, handles your ballot, start to finish . . .and the Internet is never connected throughout the election.

Please be patient with us as we begin this exciting transition…

Here are some more great links that provide solid information about Badger Books.

The Wisconsin League of https://my.lwv.org/wisconsin/article/ballot-bulletins-badger-books

The City of Wausau: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tK_MgaBBaoE&ab_channel=CityofWausau

Vimeo from Wisconsin Elections Commission.

Please remember to vote – your vote does count, and because local elections can impact you as much or more than state and federal elections, it’s especially important to vote this spring.

On the Spring Election Ballot:
- Town Chair, Town Supervisor 1, Town Supervisor 2, Town Treasurer, Town Clerk, Local School Referenda, Wisconsin Supreme Court, State Superintendent of Public Instruction, Wisconsin Court of Appeals, WI ‘Require Voter Photo ID’ Amendment)
- Rosholt School District Referendum: 2025 RSDReferendumTypeC

Helpful Videos, Information pages, and Election FAQs (from the Wisconsin Elections Commission):

What is Absentee Voting: https://vimeo.com/456712059
How to Fill Out an Absentee Ballot: https://vimeo.com/456714972
Election FAQs: https://elections.wi.gov/faq and https://elections.wi.gov/news-events/wisconsins-election-fact-checks
Election Concerns, Complaints, Security, etc.: https://elections.wi.gov/elections/election-security-integrity/concerns-comments-opinions
Absentee Voting: Please use MyVote.WI (https://myvote.wi.gov/) You can request a mail-in absentee ballot for all elections for the entire year or specific election(s), register online, update your name and/or address, track your ballot, see whose running and what the referenda are, and a lot more.
- Apply for a Mail-in Absentee Ballot through MyVote. WI (https://myvote.wi.gov/). It’s quick, easy, secure, and instantly generates an email notice to the clerk requesting a ballot; it also logs in the request on the Wisconsin Elections Commission database with a timestamp. Please allow enough time for mailing to ensure your vote gets back to your clerk no later than mail delivery time on election day. You can also hand-deliver your ballot to the Polling Place or the clerk if time’s running out.
  - Your clerk will be mailing absentee ballots from the week of March 11 through March 28 – Again, please allow enough time to mail the ballot to you, and have your ballot be returned to your clerk by election day.
- Even better: Call your clerk (Pat, 715-677-4784) to vote In-Person Absentee – Even quicker, even easier: vote with the same security as with mail-in absentee or election-day voting (registered with the State Election Commission – same as mail-in ballots and ballots voted at the polls, sealed by you in an official envelope and kept by the clerk along with returned mail-in ballots to be counted on Election Day, but without the worry about ballots being returned by mail too late…
  - Your clerk will begin In-Person Absentee Voting (Clerk’s office by appointment)from March 18 – March 29 – call (715) 677 4784 for an appointment. You will avoid any delays in mailing, and save the Town about $3.00 in postage.

WORRIED ABOUT THE SECURITY OF YOUR ABSENTEE BALLOT?

At ANY time before the Public Test, your clerk would be happy to talk about equipment security. Please call Pat at (715) 677-4784.
- None of the equipment used (ExpressVote, Badger Book, DS200 Tabulator) has any connection to/with the Internet – all data is transferred directly by the clerk from the Wisconsin Election Commission (WEC) official website or the County Clerk via a flash drive. After the election, all data related to the election is returned to the County Clerk and to WEC for inspection before the election can be closed. Election material for ExpressVote and DS200 tabulator are prepared, tested, retested, and encoded by the County Clerk, then entered into ExpressVote and Ds200 via a flash drive, and sealed and locked in place prior to the election. After the polls close, and before any data can be viewed, the DS200 runs a tape with all information from the election that is then transmitted by modem directly to the County Clerk, with paper copies delivered to the clerk and school districts within hours of the election. A phone call after the transmission from town clerk to county clerk is required within two hours to complete the process.
- When the Public Test is run the week before the election (time, date, place posted on the website, the kiosks at Sunset Lake and at North New Hope Church, and noticed in the local paper), your clerk would be happy to show you how the DS200 Tabulator works, and go through how the ExpressVote and Badger Book work as well. All members of the public are welcome. A minimum of three people witness and reconcile the results printed on the DS200 with ballots used to run the test before the unit is sealed and locked.
  - If you choose to vote In-Person Absentee, your clerk can show you the ExpressVote equipment, and walk you through the security process for that machine.
- Whether you vote Absentee Mail-In or In-Person Absentee, YOU complete your ballot, YOU place it in an official return envelope that bears a tag with your name, address, and a unique tracking number. YOU seal the return envelope, sign it, and have a witness sign and enter his/her address (your clerk’s initials should already be on it). Once your completed sealed ballot is received by mail or handed to your clerk in person, your clerk securely stores that sealed envelope until election day.
  - Your ballot cannot be processed until after 7:00 am and must be processed before 8:00 pm on Election Day. It is tracked by the Wisconsin Election Commission (WEC) from issuance through mailing until its return is officially recorded by the clerk. Then it is recorded at the polls. AND the US Postal Service and MyVote.WI uses that same official unique identifier on the mailing label so you can track your ballot’s progress from the time you request it until it is checked in at the polls. You can also check your participation, further ensuring that your vote was counted.
  - On Election Day, after 7:00 am and before 8:00 pm, your name and address on the sealed envelope are read aloud by an election inspector, and your envelope is assigned a voter number (just as you would for in-person voting). Your ballot envelope is then opened by the Chief Inspector in the presence of at least two election inspectors who serve as witnesses, and the ballot is run through the DS200 tabulator to count your votes. Your ballot contains only your votes – no number, name, or other marking to identify your ballot, so you can rest assured that your vote is confidential, secure, and indistinguishable from any other processed ballot. Before the election is considered complete, all processed ballots are tabulated, recounted, matched with numbers held by WEC, and returned along with the numbered return envelopes to the County Clerk where they will be stored for the next two years.
- BOTH TYPES OF ABSENTEE BALLOTS are closely monitored by the WISCONSIN STATE ELECTIONS COMMISSION (WEC) through the entire process:
  - When a ballot is created for you by your clerk, that generated ballot is recorded by WEC and a unique number generated and recorded by the WEC is printed on the mailing sticker that is placed on the election envelopes (for both mail-in and in-person absentee ballots).
  - That number is tracked with the US Postal Service to and from your address and back to the clerk for mailed ballots – you can track your ballot’s mail progress using MyVote.WI to ensure your ballot gets returned before the end of Election Day-
  - That number is also tracked by WEC, and is recorded in the poll book on Election Day when that envelope is brought to the polls, handed to the Chief Inspector, checked in by an election inspector, and assigned a voter number.
  - Your clerk records receipt of your ballot in the WEC system the same day it is returned (trackable by you and WEC). It is also recorded by the clerk if it arrives too late for the election, along with sufficient documentation.
  - Starting at 7:00 am on Election day, and before the end of the Election, your sealed envelope is checked in on the poll books (Badger Books), your envelope is issued a voter number (just as though you were there in person), and finally the envelope is opened by the chief inspector – your ballot is run through the DS200 Tabulator (which has been checked and re-check before and during the Public Test, then sealed and locked until 8:00 pm on Election Day), and your anonymous vote is recorded. At the end of the evening, after close of polls, all votes are tallied in the DS200, modemed to the County Clerk, then called in by the clerk. The election inspectors then do a hand count of ballots. Your election participation and your voter number are trackable online through MyVote (and by the WEC), and are part of the public record.