COVID-19 causing complications for election

SHAWANO — In-person absentee voting got underway at Shawano City Hall Monday, even though the building is technically closed due to COVID-19 coronavirus concerns.

There is currently no access for the public at City Hall, but city employees are still at work inside.

Those wishing to cast absentee ballots can ring the buzzer, and city staff will step outside to assist them, Deputy Clerk Lesley Nemetz said.

“We take the necessary paperwork with us and they complete the process outdoors,” Nemetz said, including the necessary checks for a valid photo ID.

“This is called curbside voting,” she said, adding that it’s a service poll workers can also provide on election day for voters who are unable to get out of their cars.

“It takes a little bit longer,” Nemetz said. “People definitely need to be a little more patient and understanding, and if they have their vehicle parked right up by the building, we can have them stay in their vehicle. We can hand them everything they need.”

Absentee ballots can also be mailed. The deadline to request an absentee ballot by mail is the Thursday prior to the April 7 election.

The Wisconsin Elections Commission held a webinar for county and municipal clerks Monday addressing some of the special challenges being faced this year in light of the coronavirus.

Clerks have been advised as to what precautions they can take as far as sanitizing the voting machines and voting utensils such as stylus, pens and pencils, said Shawano County Clerk Pam Schmidt.

However, she said, things like hand sanitizers, Lysol and wipes are hard to come by.

“As you know, all local stores are out right now,” Schmidt said. “(Clerks) have been given instructions to wipe down the touch screens but getting the product is next to impossible right now.”

As far as the city of Shawano is concerned, however, City Hall is well-supplied with sanitizers and cleaning products for the election, according to Nemetz.

“We had some products delivered last week, and a few things are still on their way,” she said.

The state commission is encouraging absentee voting and Schmidt said she has emailed all municipal clerks in the county to prepare for an influx of absentee ballot requests.

“We are encouraging voters to vote by absentee ballot,” she said.

Schmidt said she has been in constant contact with the municipal clerks.

“I’ve sent multiple emails this week regarding the COVID-19 and absentee ballot requests along with encouraging them to email me or call my office with questions,” she said.

One major voting change this year caused by COVID-19 concerns is the way ballots will get to residents of nursing homes.

Nemetz said there is a new mandate from the state that special election deputies who used to deliver those ballots can no longer go into the nursing homes.

She said she has been in talks with nursing home administrators and activities directors in the city to work out the protocols for getting ballots to the residents.

Nemetz said the ballots will either be mailed or delivered to the activities directors onsite. The activities directors and administrators will then get those ballots to the residents and then back to the city before election day.

“We’re still ensuring that the nursing home residents can vote and that there’s still a fair way to do it,” Nemetz said.

Nemetz said it’s a little more work for nursing home and city staff, but nothing nursing home residents will notice.

“I really don’t foresee there being any big change as far as the residents are concerned,” she said.

Another new complication that arose on Monday was Gov. Tony Evers’ announcement of a ban on gatherings of more than 50 people during the health crisis.

“If that’s still in effect, there’s going to have to be some new protocol that occurs,” Nemetz said, “because there are times when we have a large amount of people in our building.”

One possible option is someone standing outside on election day keeping count of the people who enter and exit the building, she said.

“Those are all things we still need to determine,” Nemetz said.