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City of Waukesha sees an increase in absentee ballots requests

Election 2020 Voting Witness Signatures
Posted at 3:45 PM, Oct 08, 2020
and last updated 2020-10-08 19:44:06-04

WAUKESHA — Officials in the City of Waukesha expect to see an increase in voters for the Nov. 3 Presidential Election.

Gina Kozlik, the city's Clerk Treasurer said the city has 42,990 registered voters and they have already seen an increase in the number of absentee ballots requested and turned in. Since Thursday, they have mailed out 19,401 absentee ballots and 8,870 ballots have been returned.

“We expect to see that increase. We are filling requests daily almost 200 every day,” said Gina.

Many are taking advantage of the 24/7 drop box located outside of City Hall. The ballots are slipped in the dropbox and into a secure vault.

“We check it frequently throughout the day and we do check it on the weekends,” said Gina.

Once the ballot is received, it is then separated by name, ward, and stored in another secure vault.

“That will stay here in this vault until Election Day when we bring them to the polls for processing,” said Gina.

Gina said it’s important for people to get their ballots back quickly because it allows employees to contact the voter if there’s an issue. She said it’s important for people to remember the three signatures needed on the ballot.

“These are the three required things we are looking at when we process these on Election Day,” said Gina.

Mayor Shawn Riley said with the biggest election day happening in the middle of a pandemic, safety is top of mind.

“We would like to do it as safe as possible. We are very concerned about safety and also concerned that everyone has a good experience voting and doesn’t have a problem with voting. We want to get people through as quickly as possible if they are waiting in line, have them spaced out. Once they are inside the building get them in-and-out as quickly as possible,” said Mayor Riley.

Officials said if you are voting in person on Nov. 3, bring a black ballpoint pen, social distancing is required and if you are feeling sick, curbside voting can be accommodated by calling 262-524-3550.

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