SHEBOYGAN, WI (WHBL) - The first election day for 2016 is six days away, and since last week people have had the chance to cast their ballot early for the several primaries to be decided February 16.
So far in Sheboygan, City Clerk Sue Richards tells WHBL News those coming early to cast an absentee ballot in person have caused no problems. “It’s been fairly steady, so I think it’s a pretty normal turnout for the early voting for a primary.”
Wisconsinities don't have a lot to vote for in this election. The only statewide primary is the race for a seat on the State Supreme Court between Justice Rebecca Bradley, Appellate Court Judge JoAnne Kloppenburg, and Milwaukee County Circuit Court Judge Joe Donald. There are primaries for county, city, village, town and school board races across the state, but the only two in the Sheboygan region are for seats on the Kiel school board and Town of Holland supervisors. There is also the Oostburg School District facilities referendum.
Not being chosen at this time is Wisconsin's presidential preference for the Republican and Democrat parties. That will be during the spring general election April 5. Richards says there have been no problems with early voters wanting to vote for their presidential preference. “We had a few people wondering if this was the presidential primary, but it hasn’t really been that big of a question. I think people understand that the City of Sheboygan just has just the one race on for State Supreme (Court), and they realize that there ares more elections down the line.”
Returning for the first time in several years is the need to show a photo ID when casting a ballot. Richards says early voters have not had any problems doing this, and she credits the way the word about this has been getting out. "We’re going to make an extra step coming up now. We have the ability to put a photo ID, just a brochure on what it is that you need in all of the city’s water bills, and that goes out to everyone that gets a water bill. So we hoping that that will even help more to let people know that this is here and this is here to stay and this is what you need to do. So I’m pretty excited about that.”
Richards adds that the photo ID only needs to be a valid ID that shows who a person is. It is not needed to identify a person's address.