As of 6 p.m. Wednesday night, the Madison City Clerk’s Office had processed 25,254 absentee ballots for voters in Madison. That is 11,236 more ballot requests than the all-time record set in November 2008.
And the requests just keep coming.
Clerk Maribeth Witzel-Behl said that in addition to the more than 25,000 absentee ballots that have been processed, staff worked until midnight Wednesday processing more than 14,000 new requests. And by 9:30 a.m. Thursday there were 16,391 requests in their inbox.
In the wake of COVID-19, the clerk’s office has seen a surge in absentee voting for the April 7 election. Voters must request an absentee ballot at myvote.wi.gov by the Thursday before an election — for the upcoming election that is Thursday, April 2.
That date, however, is cutting is a bit close, Witzel-Behl said. Absentee ballots must be received in the Clerk’s Office in time for delivery to the polls on Election Day, according to the Clerk’s office website.
In order to keep up with demand and offer quick returns on absentee ballots, the Clerk’s Office has recruited help from other city agencies like the fire department, building inspection, the Mayor’s office, Madison Park Division and City Planning. The departments are working together to mail ballots and provide envelopes.
“We are going through envelopes and labels like crazy,” she said.
Voters can vote in person Monday through Friday 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. at the City Clerk Office at 210 Martin Luther King Jr Blvd and the Madison Municipal Building, room 153 at 215 Martin Luther King Jr Blvd.
For information about voting and polling locations, visit the City Clerk’s website at cityofmadison.com.
