Please be aware of changes for absentee ballot delivery in the Town (as per state law). Review the below letter from the Clerk for complete details, but in Summary:
- Mail in your absentee ballot to the Clerk
- PERSONALLY drop off your ballot to the Clerk (you CANNOT drop off someone else’s ballot)
- Pittsfield does NOT have a drop box so use method 1 or 2.
To Pittsfield Voters,
I want to clarify recent changes to (1) continue using unstaffed drop boxes to collect absentee ballots in the April 5, 2022, general election, and (2) accept voted absentee ballots from someone other than the elector who voted the ballot or an agent specifically authorized by law to deliver the ballot on behalf of the elector.
(1) “[A]n elector must personally mail or deliver his or her own absentee ballot, except where the law explicitly authorizes an agent to act on an elector’s behalf”;
(2) “[T]he only lawful methods for casting an absentee ballot pursuant to Wis. Stat. § 6.87(4)(b)1. are for the elector to place the envelope containing the ballot in the mail or for the elector to deliver the ballot in person to the municipal clerk”;
(3) “[T]he use of drop boxes . . . is not permitted under Wisconsin law unless the drop box is staffed by the clerk and located at the office of the clerk
In sum, this means there are only three methods of returning a voted absentee ballot that are consistent with the court’s judgment: the elector may (1) mail it, (2) return it to the clerk at the clerk’s office or at an alternate site used for in-person absentee voting, or (3) deposit it in a staffed drop box that complies with the court’s order. No other method can comply with this order.
That is to say, no one other than the elector himself or herself may return a voted absentee ballot unless the law specifically authorizes someone else to return the ballot on the elector’s behalf. Those authorized by law to return a ballot on behalf of an elector are limited to postal employees in the course of their official duties, special voting deputies (Wis. Stat. § 6.875), and agents of hospitalized electors (Wis. Stat. § 6.86(3)).
Please let me know if you have any further questions 920-676-1517
Deb Diederich, Town of Pittsfield Clerk