Serving Gogebic, Iron and Ontonagon Counties
Serving Gogebic, Iron and Ontonagon Counties
Debbie Hohner, Mercer town clerk, takes a brief moment away from entering absentee ballot requests into the system.
By CHARITY SMITH
With the threat of the coronavirus looming everywhere, a record number of voters in Iron County, Wisconsin, are choosing to vote absentee in this year's presidential primary and many local officials are encouraging it.
"We are definitely promoting it," said Mercer Town Clerk Debbie Hohner. "We were trying to find the best way to promote the idea of absentee ballots, so our deputy clerk, Beth Wetzir, actually created a Facebook page for us.
Hohner said voting absentee is new for a lot of people. "We're just trying to make it as easy as possible for a lot of people."
According to Hurley City Clerk Kathy Osterman, Hurley usually gets only 80 requests for absentee ballots each year. However this year, they've already released 361 absintee ballots. That's a 350% increase.
"Way more then usual," Osterman said.
In Montreal, 41% of their registered voters have already signed up to vote absentee, according to City Clerk-Treasurer Susan Lesky.
"Last election we had about 60 absentees. Currently, we have received a little over 400 absentee ballot requests as of noon (Monday)," said Hohner. "There are about a 1,000 registered voters here in Mercer. So, the word is getting out."
Mercer's Facebook page with directions as to how to sign up to vote absentee is getting a lot of positive feedback, said Hohner, adding, people are telling them that it has made it easy for them to share the information with a friend.
Each absentee ballot request needs processing.
"I've been living here, processing all these," Hohner said.
There are three ways to register to vote absentee in the state of Wisconsin:
-Register to vote absentee on the state website;
-Send an email to the city, village or town with a picture of yourself; or
-For those who don't have a computer, call city, village or town officials to set up a time to come in and vote.
"We don't want the lack of a computer to stop people from voting, so we are happy to have them vote in person," Hohner said.
Hohner said they've been seeing eight to 10 people a day coming in to vote in person, which is four times more than usual.
"The option to vote an absentee ballot is a safe and prudent option at this time, and registered voters can apply at myvote.wi.gov," said Montreal Mayor Erik Guenard in a letter to residents. "This procedure will protect your exposure and allow you to vote in the upcoming election and maintain physical distancing."
Absentee ballot requests must be in by Thursday at 5 p.m. and the ballots themselves must be received back to officials by 8 p.m. on Election Day, Tuesday. Absentee ballots can be mailed back or dropped off at the clerk's office.
