Voting 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. All absentee ballots are sent to the polls to be counted on Election Day.

Voters may verify their voter registration status, polling place, view a sample ballot, request and track their absentee ballot at the MyVote Wisconsin Website at www.myvote.wi.gov

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

IPAV (In-person absentee voting) will take place at City Hall on weekdays from 8:00 am to 4:30 pm 2 weeks prior to each election with extended hours on the Friday before each election until 5:00 pm. You will need to present acceptable photo ID to receive an absentee ballot. If you are not already registered to vote at your current address, you may register to vote, with acceptable proof of residence and vote during IPAV.

Absentee ballots remain sealed in their certificate envelope and secured by the Clerk's Office until delivered to the voter's polling place to be processed on Election Day. On Election Day, poll workers at the voter's polling location verify that the certificate on the absentee envelope is complete, check the voter into the poll book, assign a voter number, and insert the ballot into the tabulator to be counted.

Absentee Delivery by Mail

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

Voter Name
New Berlin Address that voter is registered at
Address to which the ballot should be mailed
Voter Signature
Copy of voter's acceptable Photo ID, if not already on file in the Clerk's Office

Send the request via email to ClerksOffice@newberlinwi.gov or mail the request to:

City of New Berlin Clerk's Office
Attn: Absentee Ballot Request
3805 S. Casper Drive
New Berlin, WI 53151

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. If you are returning your absentee ballot on Election Day, it is helpful that you return your ballot to your polling place.

Voting Absentee in the Hospital

Hospitalized voters should follow these steps to request their absentee ballot. Hospitalized electors may appoint an agent to retrieve and deliver their absentee ballot if they are hospitalized in the 7 days before Election Day.

The hospitalized elector has used MyVote.wi.gov to complete their absentee ballot request form. In box 7 of the form, the voter has certified that they are hospitalized.
The hospitalized elector then appoints an agent to request/deliver the ballot on the elector's behalf. The elector may appoint anyone as their agent. The agent will need to provide their information on the absentee ballot application. The agent's information should appear in box 7 of the form.
If the elector is not registered, the elector must complete a voter registration application. The voter registration application can be found by clicking here. The agent may deliver the registration along with the absentee ballot request. The voter will also need to provide a proof of residence document with their registration. a proof of resident document proves where the voter lives in Wisconsin. More information on proof of residence can be found by clicking here.
The agent for the hospitalized voter delivers a completed absentee ballot application or the written equivalent (and possibly the voter registration form) to the municipal clerk for the hospitalized elector's municipality of residence.
The agent must also show a copy of the voter's photo ID, or the voter's original photo ID, to the municipal clerk when making the absentee ballot request. More information on what photo ID's can be used for voting can be found at www.bringit.wi.gov. An agent must provide his or her proof of identification before the municipal clerk may issue an absentee ballot to the agent. The clerk should ensure that the identification matches the information on the application.
The municipal clerk issues an absentee ballot, absentee certificate envelope and uniform instructions in an absentee carrier envelope to the agent for the hospitalized elector.
The agent transports the absentee ballot to the hospitalized elector. The hospitalized elector votes the ballot in the presence of a witness. The hospitalized elector places the voted ballot in the absentee certificate envelope, seals and signs the envelope. The witness also needs to sign the absentee certificate envelope. The elector may choose their agent to also serve as their witness.
The agent must deliver or mail the absentee ballot in the certificate envelope to the elector's municipal clerk. Whether the agent personally delivers the ballot mails the ballot, it must be received by the municipal clerk by 8:00 pm on Election Day.

Indefinitely Confined Absentee Ballot

The indefinitely confined category is fitting for voters who, for the foreseeable future, limit travel outside their home because of age, physical illness, or infirmity, or are disabled for an indefinite period. Each voter makes the decision of whether they are indefinitely confined based upon their current situation. Being indefinitely confined does not require permanent or total inability to travel outside of your home.

No copy or picture of your voter ID is needed if you apply for an absentee ballot in the indefinitely confined category. As an indefinitely confined absentee voter, you will continue to receive ballots for every election until you do not return a ballot, or you request to be removed from the indefinitely confined absentee list.

You can apply as an indefinitely confined absentee voter by printing out and mailing in this form:

Indefinitely Confined Absentee Ballot Request

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 a SVD (Special Voting Deputy). 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 (SVD's) are election officials who are trained and deputized by the City Clerk to perform the duties of SVD voting. SVD's 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. SVD's 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.

Military and Overseas Voters (both permanent & temporary) Voters Only

The fastest way for Military and Overseas voters to request an absentee ballot is online at the MyVote Wisconsin website.

Military and Overseas Voters: Send your absentee request to ClerksOffice@newberlinwi.gov. Be sure to include your name, address at which you are registered to vote, email address to which the ballot should be sent, and a copy or picture of your voter ID (if not already on file in the Clerk's Office).

You will receive your ballot and absentee certification statement as attachments to an email message. You will need to print the ballot and certification statement on paper and send them back to the City Clerk's Office through the mail. Absentee ballots must be received by the Clerk's Office in time for delivery to the polls on Election Day.

Overseas Voter Guides from the Wisconsin Elections Commission:

Make Sure Your Absentee Ballot Counts!

We want your absentee ballot to count on Election Day. Our goal is for zero absentee ballots to be rejected at the polls.

The City Clerk's Office strongly encourages absentee voters to take the following steps to make sure their ballot is counted:

Read the instructions that you receive with your absentee ballot.
Sign the certificate envelope on the line marked "Signature of Voter."
Have your witness sign the certificate envelope on the line marked "Signature of Witness." Your witness can be your spouse or significant other.
Have your witness write their complete address underneath the witness signature (street number, street name, municipality, state, and zip code).
Seal the envelope after you enclose your voted ballot.
Mail your absentee ballot back to the Clerk's Office as early as possible. The ballot must be to your polling place by 8:00 pm on Election Day. The post office suggests mailing your absentee ballot no less than 7 days prior to the Election date.
If you have moved, register to vote at your new address. Crossing out the address on your absentee label and writing in your new address does not update your voter registration.

Absentee ballots are rejected for the following reasons:

Voter has not signed the absentee certificate envelope
Voter has not had a witness sign the absentee certificate envelope
Witness did not write their address on the certificate envelope (entire address must be written)
Ballot has not been received by Election Day
Voter has not registered to vote at their current address
Voter has not sealed the absentee certificate envelope
Voter dies before Election Day