Message from the Madison City Clerk's Office: Absentee Voting

Vote Absentee

For federal elections, absentee ballots will be in the mail beginning 47 days before the election. For elections that do not include federal offices, absentee ballots will be in the mail beginning three weeks before Election Day (Spring Primary Election: January 31, 2023 - Spring General Election: March 14, 2023). All absentee ballots are sent to the polls to be counted on Election Day.

Voters may verify their registration, polling place, sample ballot, and absentee ballot status at My Vote Wisconsin My Vote Wisconsin .

The deadline to request an absentee ballot is 5:00 pm the Thursday before the election, but we recommend making your request as early as possible so there is adequate time to mail the ballot back to the Clerk's Office.

In-Person Absentee Voting

Absentee voting locations are established by the Common Council prior to each election.

Absentee Delivery by Mail

An Absentee Ballot Request PDF form is available for your convenience, but you are not required to use a form. You may submit an absentee request at My Vote Wisconsin (click on Vote Absentee at the top of the website), or you may send a written request that includes:

Name Madison address Address to which the ballot should be mailed Signature Copy of voter ID, if not already on file in Clerk’s Office

Send the request via email to voting@cityofmadison.com, or mail the request to: City Clerk's Office 210 Martin Luther King Jr Blvd, Room 103 Madison, WI 53703

Ballots will be mailed out through the Thursday before the election. Absentee ballots must be received in the Clerk’s Office in time for delivery to the polls on Election Day.

Qualifying Care Facilities

Any voter who resides in a qualifying care facility and requests an absentee ballot will have their ballot brought to their facility by SVDs. This process, known as SVD voting, is the exclusive means of absentee voting for occupants of residential care facilities and qualified retirement homes.

Special Voting Deputies (SVDs) are election officials who are trained and deputized by the City Clerk to perform the duties of SVD voting. SVDs will visit each facility two times in the three weeks prior to each election. The scheduled days and times will be publicly noticed and posted at each facility. SVDs must make two attempts to deliver an absentee ballot before that ballot can be mailed to the voter.

SVD Voting is governed by State Statute 6.875 . For more information on SVD voting, please view the Wisconsin Elections Commission guide Absentee Voting in Residential Care Facilities and Retirement Homes. PDF 2023 Spring Primary Election SVD Visit Schedule PDF