Attention all Madison students! We are currently embracing a huge election, one that will go down in history. The competition is heating up between Mitt Romney and Barack Obama as our country faces economic turmoil, riots in the Middle East, new Medicare laws, and potential changes in women’s rights, gay rights, and more. Being a student at Madison, it is impossible to even walk to class without running into someone asking you to sign a petition for one thing, or chanting at you about another thing. As of late you may have also noticed that people all over campus have been asking people to register to vote in the city of Madison. Personally, I do not have time to stop and register to vote in the middle of a busy sidewalk as I am heading to class, so here is your “how to” sign up for absentee voting.
Step 1: The first step is to make sure that you have already been registered to vote from your home city or state. In order to be eligible for an absentee ballot, you must be registered!!! If you have never registered to vote prior to this election, it is okay! You can simply register to vote online. (Look to step 2)
Step 2: Log on to any Internet browser, and it is as easy as typing in your home “city, state, and absentee ballot” to get started! Once on a website through your city and state, it is easy to register to vote if need be. Otherwise, continue on to absentee voting. The next step is to download the “Application for Absentee Ballot.”
Step 3: You must print the application and fill it out accordingly and mail it to your municipal clerk’s office. The clerk must receive the application no later than 5:00 p.m. on the Thursday prior to the election, so get it in ASAP.
Step 4: Once the application is sent in, you will have to wait for the actual absentee ballot to be mailed back to you. I recommend that you fill out the ballot and mail it back as quickly as possible to ensure that your vote can be counted. The completed ballot must be returned to the municipal clerk’s office no later than Election Day, or at least be postmarked by Election Day. If the ballot does not arrive before 4 PM on the Friday after the election, it will not be counted.
If you are a Wisconsin native and need to fill out an absentee ballot form, here is a link:
http://gab.wi.gov/elections-voting/voters/absentee