Online voter registration deadline passes, registration still available

The deadline to register to vote online has passed for the August primary in Wisconsin.

You can, however, still register in your municipal clerk’s office. Voting day registration is also available.

Even in the little village of West Salem, administrator Theresa Schnitzler says she’ll see plenty who register the day of the election — some who didn’t even realize they weren’t registered to vote.

“A lot of people think they’re registered but maybe the last time they voted was the last gubernatorial or presidential,” she said, “and they moved or their name changed, they got married and they think they’re they’re registered but actually some changes took place so they were knocked out of the book and have to reregister.”

Schnitzler recommends checking the state website myvote.wi.gov/en-us to see your registration status before voting day in Wisconsin. In Minnesota the site is here. Deadline there to register in advance by mail or in person is Aug. 13.

To register at the poll in Wisconsin, Schnitzler says there’s not much to it. You only need to bring a couple of things.

“You would bring a proof of residency, that could be a utility bill or bank statement — something that proves you live where you say you live — and bring a photo id,” she said.

In Minnesota, you could also just have a registered voter from your precinct verify your address, if an ID or document isn’t available.

The primary is August 14, and a lot of people will register then, Schnitzler knows.

“Even for the small elections, we’ll have a stack of 100,” she said “And you think you’ve captured everybody, but we have 5,000 people here.

“And on an election day you get another 100 and you think, ‘What happened? Where did these people come from?’”