logo

Does the US Postal Service recommend mailing absentee ballots in Wisconsin by Nov. 1?

By Hope Karnopp
YES

The U.S. Postal Service recommends mailing completed absentee ballots by Nov. 1, a week before Election Day. It can take longer for voters with mailing addresses outside of Wisconsin.

However, Nov. 1 is not the deadline for returning absentee ballots. Absentee ballots must be received by 8 p.m. on Election Day, Nov. 8.

Voters who miss the mail-in deadline can bring completed absentee ballots to their local clerk's or to their polling place on Election Day.

Absentee ballot drop boxes are no longer available in Wisconsin after a Wisconsin Supreme Court ruling in July. That ruling also made it illegal for someone other than the voter to deliver an absentee ballot to a clerk's office.  

In August, however, a federal judge ruled voters with disabilities can receive help, except from an employer or union, with returning their ballots. Https://myvote.wi.gov/ offers details on voting absentee. 

This fact brief is responsive to conversations such as this one.
ABOUT THE CONTRIBUTOR
Wisconsin Watch, the news arm of the nonpartisan, nonprofit Wisconsin Center for Investigative Journalism, increases the quality and quantity of investigative reporting in Wisconsin, while training current and future investigative journalists. Its work fosters an informed citizenry and strengthens democracy.
FACT BRIEF BY
facebook
twitter
email
email