City prepares for switch to Badger Books

City of Medford voters will see some changes when they head to polls for voting later this winter.

The city of Medford is the first municipality in the county to switch to an electronic voter registration system called Badger Book. Rather than poll workers needing to look up people’s names on the printed poll lists, the process will be done electronically. While new to this area, Badger Book has been around since 2017 when it was developed by the Wisconsin Election Commission.

On Monday, city clerk Ashley Lemke held training sessions for poll workers to familiarize them with the new equipment and process ahead of the February 20 county board primary election. While only Taylor County District 2 (which includes the southeast corner of the city of Medford including city wards three and four) will vote in that election, Lemke said she intends to have a full crew of poll workers present, in large part to help them get more hands-on experience with the new system prior to the April election. There is expected to be a larger turnout for the April election. There will also be a partisan primary election in August and the presidential general election in November, which typically draws much higher voter numbers.

One of the major pluses of the Badger Book system is that it includes the entire state’s voter registration database which allows poll workers to determine if someone should be at a different polling place. Beyond this it also reduces the amount of work by city staff in preparing for election day. The poll list information is pre-loaded on the computers and the terminals are not connected to the internet.

Those voting in the city are asked to be patient and to speak clearly as the poll workers adjust to the new system.

The goal is that eventually, the process will allow for a more streamlined voting experience both in regard to staffing of elections with poll workers and for the voters.

Rather than going to a greeter table when they come to city hall to vote or have to be divided into lines by name or ward, voters will be able to go into whichever of four stations that will be set up.

Lemke compared it to picking a check out line at the grocery store, with the voter able to go to one that is moving faster or is shorter than another.

Once it is their turn, voters will be asked to state their name and address. Voters will be asked to spell the first three letters of the last name which the poll worker will enter to search the state voter database to see if the voter is registered and eligible to vote.

Registered voters will then be asked to show their ID which the poll worker will compare to the voter list and the voter will be asked to electronically sign the screen using their finger. Once the signature is accepted, the system will print a receipt which the voter will take to another station to either receive their physical ballot or wait to use the electronic voting machines.

First time voters will continue to have the opportunity to register to vote at the polling place on election day and will do so electronically at the same station when they come in to vote.

The process of registering to vote takes some time as data is entered into the system so new voters are urged to register ahead of time. This can be done at city hall up to the day before the election. It can also be done online by going to myvote. wi.gov or through the mail.

If mailing a voter registration form, Lemke cautions people to be aware of the deadlines.

“What we are provided from the state says ‘must be postmarked no later than the 3rd Wednesday before the election. Online registration closes at 11:59 p.m.’ So it looks like the 3rd Wednesday is the cutoff for online, and after that all registrations have to be in the office,” Lemke said noting they can’t take them in the mail after that postmark date.

New voters are urged to register ahead of coming to the polls. Those registering on the day of the election should expect to take longer to register and then vote. While it is possible to register on the day of the election and choose not to vote at that time, if the new voter comes back in to vote later they will likely have to go through the entire voter registration process again before being able to vote.

Voters also have the ability to update their polling address and information at the polling place, such as if they have moved since the last election or have changed their name (for example with marriage or divorce.)

Again, voters are encouraged to do this ahead of time at city hall or by using the online tools at myvote.wi.gov.

Lemke said the city is serving as the local test for the new election system with the county considering using it in other municipalities.

The new Badger Books electronic poll book system will be used in Medford for the Feb. 20 primary.