Aug. 9 primary absentee voters face new rules

Voters in the state’s Aug. 9 partisan primary — one in which they will select the likely new clerk of court for the county — will be the first to be required to abide by new absentee ballot standards following a ruling by the state supreme court.

Those who chose to vote with an absentee ballot now must either mail the ballot back, drop it off in person to the correct municipal clerk’s office or hand deliver it to the Aug. 9 polling place. The actual voter must return the ballot, not a relative or neighbor.

Among the decisions voters will make will be who among four Republicans running for clerk of the court will be on the November ballot and, because no Democrat has announced for the position, the likely successor to retiring clerk Michelle Weisenberger. 

Three of the candidates, Mary Lee, Kari Tidquist and Derrek Winkler, are deputy clerks in the office. The fourth candidate, Rob Grover, is the county’s former economic development and tourism director.

Lee, deputy county clerk for family and civil cases, has been with the department for just under five years. Tidquist is senior deputy clerk, oversees criminal cases and has worked in the clerk of courts office for two and a half years. Winkler is the deputy clerk for civil and small claims cases. Since leaving his position as economic and tourism director, Grover, who also runs Winghaven Pizza Farm, is director of volunteerism for Catholic Charities of the Diocese of La Crosse.

For those choosing to apply to vote absentee through the mail, a ballot will be returned by mail to a registered voter with an already-stamped envelope, said Arcadia City Clerk and Treasurer Angela Berg. Both Berg and Jennifer Hess, the city clerk and treasurer for Galesville, said voters previously left finished ballots in a utility drop-off slot. That, the two noted, is no longer allowed.

“I put a big sign up,” Hess said. “And so far so good, but we’re not at crunch time yet.”

Hess is also providing residents of Marinuka Manor with the opportunity to vote absentee, sending two special voting deputies to the manor next Wednesday. The residents’ completed ballots will be sealed and recorded on election day, Hess said. 

All absentee ballots in the county will be fed through the electronic voting machines that will be used by in-person voters as well.

The Wisconsin Supreme Court in June ruled that the legislature never specifically voted to allow absentee ballots to be placed in drop boxes or for someone other than the voter to return the ballots. Those practices were allowed in 2020 by the Wisconsin Election Commission.

The results of the Aug. 9 primary will determine who is on the ballot for each party for the Nov. 8 general election.

There is no announced candidate for coroner. Write-in candidates have until the Friday before an election to register their intentions.

In other local races, Republicans Ryan T. Owen of Osseo and incumbent and Treig Pronschinske of Mondovi are on the ballot for state District 92 assembly representative. The primary winner will face Democrat Maria Bamonti of Mondovi. In the general election.

In the District 3 congressional race, four Democrats are seeking to get on the ballot to succeed Ron Kind. The Democrat primary winner will face one Republican candidate and one Libertarian on the Nov. 8 ballot.

County voters Aug. 9 will also select a candidate for each party for governor, lieutenant governor, attorney general, secretary of state, state treasurer and U.S. Senate.

CORRECTION: An earlier version of this story included incorrect information about county clerk of courts candidate Mary Lee. Lee has worked for the Eau Claire County clerk of courts for over five years and previously worked 18 years for the Trempealeau County sheriff's office.