Wisconsin is at the center of another close race for President and as voting is underway here in the Badger state, we wanted to share a few of the things the Wisconsin Election Commission has undertaken to ensure the voters have confidence in our election system. After all, this presidential race may come down to a few thousand votes in a few states, including Wisconsin.
Since 2020, we have had a number of statewide elections including; a Supreme Court race, 2 biennial primaries and of course, the midterm and gubernatorial elections. After each of these elections, we do intense reviews to ensure our security standards are being met by the election administrators in our nearly 2,500 polling places statewide.
Editorial:You can be confident in Wisconsin election results. We have the proof.
Earlier this year we released a report entitled: “How Wisconsin is ready for the November 2024 election” detailing the safeguards in place and the planning that was executed by all our Wisconsin election administrators to ensure not only are our elections secure, but the public can trust the outcome.
Commission partners with local municipalities who run elections
Wisconsin has over 1,800 local municipalities and each one of these local units of government is responsible for the administration of our elections. At the Wisconsin Election Commission, we partner with the local municipalities to train the over 30,000 poll workers necessary to carry out the duties on Election Day.
We do everything with transparency. The municipal clerk’s office in your county has conducted an open test on all voting machines used in the election to screen for issues. This test was open to the public, and even if you did not get a chance to attend, you can still address concerns you may have about the security of the machines by calling your clerk’s office.
Kristin Brey:Wisconsin will vote on a referendum question Nov. 5. Like others, it’s confusing.
Clerks demonstrate that machines are never connected to the internet, and in fact are unable to connect, to prevent tampering. They can explain that all votes in Wisconsin are on paper, and that those paper ballots and tapes are stored securely both before and after the election to maintain a proper chain of custody. The procedures can be observed up close and transparently, from how election workers validate and double check identification to the processing and storage of ballots.
Securing data and infrastructure a priority since 2020
Since 2020, we’ve made securing the MyVote Wisconsin site and our own voter registration data infrastructure a top priority. We’ve coordinated with state and local law enforcement to make sure our security practices are up to date, to keep them informed of the security landscape, and to defend for all contingencies in the election. We’ve worked directly with local clerks to provide cybersecurity training. We are continuously monitoring the voter rolls to provide updates to local clerks when individuals need to be removed for death, felony conviction, or incompetency adjudication. Lastly, we will perform a complete audit following the election to ensure our procedures worked as intended.
Wisconsin has some of the most secure elections in the country, and while we are extremely confident in the security we have put forward, we understand that there will be complaints. On MyVote Wisconsin, you can track your ballot, contact WEC, and submit any issues you face on Election Day or before.
Our processes and procedures work. Our clerks and election workers are trained and tested, taking on elections of all sizes in the last four years. They have been under constant scrutiny since 2020 and are working doubly hard to ensure that no one cheats the system. In Wisconsin, we practice, implement, audit, and improve – that’s how we approach every election and we are confident that the steps we have taken to educate the public and keep our processes transparent will pay dividends in 2024.
Our processes work to keep cheaters from impacting our elections. Period. Take it from us, a Republican and a Democrat, who have devoted our careers to this job. The winner of the state of Wisconsin will know that this process was safe, secure, and most importantly, fair.
Marge Bostelmann and Ann Jacobs are members of the Wisconsin Elections Commission.
Source link
