A recent court ruling will make it easier for Wisconsin voters to participate in early voting in Wisconsin.
Director Jay Heck from the advocacy group Common Cause says early absentee voting will begin across Wisconsin sooner than has been the case over the last five years. Among the restrictions lifted by the court were limiting municipalities to one location for in-person absentee voting; a requirement that in-person absentee voting run no earlier than two weeks before an election, and only take place on weekdays and a prohibition on distributing absentee ballots by email or fax.
Heck says the court gave local municipalities more local control over the balloting...
".....it's beginning as early as September 26 in some locations. The best thing would be to check with some local voting clerks in Rhinelander or the area to find out when early voting begins in your area...."
He says the court widened the window that local clerks can have early voting...
"....it allows people more time to either go into a clerk's office to cast an in-person absentee ballot prior to November 8, as well as a bit more time to vote by mail..."
Heck says the law has changed in other ways. In past years you had to state a reason why you had to vote early. Now you don't have to do that, but you do have to present one of the accepted forms of Voter ID to clerks when you come in to early vote. More information about early voting is on the webpage commoncausewisconsin.org
