Municipal Clerk Specialist with the UW-Madison Local Government Education Center Discusses the April 7th Election

Tuesday, March 24th, 2026 -- 2:01 PM

The April 7th Election is just a couple weeks away and there are a few things to remember before you vote.

I spoke with Melissa Kono, Municipal Clerk Specialist with the UW-Madison Local Government Education Center, and she discussed the election and what’s needed in more detail.

Listen to the interview with Melissa here!

If you have any questions about the upcoming election, you can check the myvotewi.gov website or contact your local municipal clerk.

(AI assisted transcription via Otter.ai)

Melissa: "Yeah, so April 7 is our spring election. There's several different offices that are up for election in April, one being all the county board seats in counties across Wisconsin, those are up for re-election. There also might be some municipal races, but certainly there are school board races, and there's also a statewide primary for State Supreme Court."

"So, those things should be on most people's ballots. But if anyone wants to check out their ballot ahead of time before the election, just to see what's on it, or maybe research the candidates that they have an option to vote for."

"The best place to go is myvote.wi.gov, and that's actually a great resource for several things, one being voter registration information or to request an absentee ballot. But it will also show your polling place and who your clerk is and then you can view what's on your ballot if you want to do some research ahead of time, just so you know what to expect when you get to the polling place on Election Day."

Riley: "We've talked about this in the past, so people should be aware, but, just in case that they are not, in order to vote on the April 7 election, they do need an ID, correct? What are the proper forms of ID that they can use?"

Melissa: "Yep, they need to be registered to vote, and they also will need to show a photo ID in order to receive a ballot. So, a Wisconsin driver's license or the Wisconsin photo ID card is acceptable. Also a passport or passport card, a Wisconsin college or technical college student ID is acceptable, as is a tribal ID, a Veterans Affairs card or a branch of military ID card or certificate of naturalization that was issued in the last two years. And it is okay to also show that paper receipts that they receive from the DMV if they go in and get their license updated, for example."

Riley: "And then what can people do, perhaps they go to the polls and they realize they forgot their ID, their wallet, but they still want to vote. What can they do in order to be able to vote?"

Melissa: "Yep, so they do have a couple options. Again, they do need to show a photo ID in order to receive a ballot. So, one option would be to go and get their photo ID. Now, if their ID is lost or something, then sometimes they can go to the DMV and get it, but I realize, especially in rural areas, that the DMV doesn't have office hours every single day, so that might not be possible."

"But, you know, going home and getting their ID and returning to the polls is certainly an option and probably the best option for everybody, but, if that's not possible, they do have an option, if they are a registered voter, to vote provisionally, which means they mark a ballot, but it's not cast on election day and actually it's not counted unless they bring a photo ID back, but that's kind of a hassle for both the voter and the clerk."

"So, we always want people to know ahead of time to make sure they bring a proper photo ID when they come to the polls to vote. And, I also want to make a note, it doesn't need to be a Real ID, you know, the ID that has the star on it. I know a lot of people have been getting those IDs because you need them to fly. And there's also been kind of this push for people to get them, but you don't need a Real ID to vote in Wisconsin."

Riley: "And now this week, many people can vote in person, absentee, if they would like. Can you explain that process?"

Melissa: "Yeah, so 14 days prior to each election, there is the option to vote in person, and I know people, like, often call it early voting. It's not exactly early voting, because what you are doing is marking a ballot and then that's put in an envelope and it's held until election day and it can't be processed until election day, just as if somebody wanted to receive a ballot and vote absentee through mail."

"It's kind of the same envelope and the same process, but that is certainly an option. There's also information on myvote.wi.gov website that will list the municipal clerk's address and phone and contact information so that if somebody wants to make an appointment to go in or vote or check what the office hours might be available for people to walk in and mark an absentee ballot."

Riley: "Is there still time for people to mail in their ballot?"

Melissa: "Certainly, yep, the earlier, the better with that, because the mail can take quite a long time. But on the myvote.wi.gov website, there is the option to request an absentee ballot. Voters still need to show a photo ID, but they can upload that and then the clerk, like basically instantly receives that notice and then will mail that ballot out to the voter."

"The voter can track that process, so the voter can see that the clerk received their request, the clerk sent the ballot out, and then the voter can anticipate that that's arriving and they can have that ballot mailed to a different address, other than like where they are registered to vote, and so they they can also track when the clerk receives their ballot back."

"I always say too, if you're thinking about getting an absentee ballot mailed to you, to be sure to include some contact information on your request because when you go online to myvote.wi.gov, website, then you'll submit information to get your absentee ballot, but always including an email address and a phone number, just in case there's any problems with your absentee ballot."

"A common thing that happens is people forget to have their witness sign and put their witness address on the envelope and that's a really important part. The ballot can't be counted unless that information is on there."

"So, you know, making sure you understand all the rules with absentee voting and that the clerk has a way to get a hold of you, just in case there's a question. You want to make sure that your ballot is counted and that it was, you know, everything was properly done so that it can be counted."

Riley: "Anything else?"

Melissa: "So, it has been a while since we've had an election, especially like a really large election. I mean, I bet there's a lot of people who haven't voted since maybe the presidential election in 2024. We only had two elections last year. Not everybody had a primary in February."

"So, if you've moved during that time or you know if you've changed your name or your address, it is a good idea to update that information. You can do that online at the myvote.wi.gov site, but it closes 21 days prior to each election, which, I realize, is very inconvenient."

"You can also update that with your clerk ahead of the election or on election day in Wisconsin. And if you need to register to vote at a new place, you can do that also with the clerk up until election day, well, up until the weekend before the election, and then you can also register to vote on Election Day in Wisconsin."

"So, some people are probably in the position of needing to update their registration. If they need to update their address on, say, their Wisconsin driver's license or photo ID card, they can actually do that online at the DMV website in order to have that updated."

"And then they can also update their registration if they need to. But otherwise, if there hasn't been any changes since the last time they voted, then they should be fine. They don't need to re register. Then it's only if you've moved or had a name change that they'll have to update their registration."

Feel free to contact us with questions and/or comments.