Absentee Voting

In-Person Absentee Voting Hours for April 4, 2023 Spring Election
Voting an absentee ballot in-person will be located at Fitchburg City Hall, 5520 Lacy Road, Fitchburg WI, 53711

The last day to vote an absentee ballot in the clerk's office:

Friday, March 31, 2023 - 7:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m

Requesting a Ballot by Mail: To request a ballot be mailed to your home, please visit the MyVote website (https://myvote.wi.gov) using Google Chrome, Microsoft Edge, Firefox, or Safari as your web browser. You may be required to submit photo identification with your application - please, no selfies.

Please visit the “Bring it to the Ballot” (https://bringit.wi.gov/) web site for information on photo identification. 

Casting an Absentee Ballot

For Federal elections, absentee ballots will be in the mail beginning 47 days prior to the election. For elections that do not include federal offices, absentee ballots will be mailed beginning three weeks prior to Election Day. All absentee ballots are delivered to the polls on Election Day to be counted.

In order to cast an absentee ballot, you must first be registered to vote.

If you are registered you may obtain a ballot:

By Mail

Download the Absentee Ballot Application and mail, e-mail, fax, or deliver it to the City Clerk's Office. This form is provided for your convenience, but you are not required to used a form. You may submit an absentee request online at MyVote, or you may send a written request that includes:

  • Name
  • Fitchburg Address
  • Address at which you would like the ballot mailed
  • Signature
  • Send the request via email to:  clerk@fitchburgwi.gov or you may mail the request to:  City Clerk, 5520 Lacy Road, Fitchburg, WI  53711 - ** Photo ID must be provided (if not already on file in the clerk's office) 

All applications must be received by the Clerk no later than 5 p.m. on the Thursday before the election in order for an absentee ballot to be mailed to you.

Permanent Absentee Ballot

If you are indefinitely confined because of age, illness, infirmity or disability, you can receive an absentee ballot on a permanent basis by completing the permanent absentee ballot application. This request is also available and can be completed online via MyVote (photo ID not required).

In-Person in the Clerk's Office

This can be done in the clerk's office between the hours of 7:30 a.m. - 4:30 p.m. and up until 5 p.m. on the Friday before the election. **Photo ID required** - Please see above for Election specific in-person absentee voting hours

Online

You may request an absentee ballot online through MyVote.

By Email

Email ballots are available during federal elections to Military and Overseas voters. Please send your request to clerk@fitchburgwi.gov. Be sure to include your name, address at which you are registered, email address to which you would like the ballot sent to, and a copy of your Photo ID (if not already on file in the Clerk's office). The deadline to request an absentee ballot is 5:00 p.m. on the Thursday prior to the election.

  • NOTE:  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 get them back to the Clerk's office through the mail.  Your ballot should be sealed in a business sized envelope with the certification affixed to the outside of the business envelope.  The business envelope should then be placed in a larger envelope with a notation of "absentee ballot enclosed" and mailed to: City Clerk, 5520 Lacy Road, Fitchburg, WI  53711

In Order for your Absentee Ballot to be counted, all absentee ballots must include the Voters Signature, Witness Signature and Complete Address on the certificate Envelope.  Absentee Ballots must be received by the municipal clerk's office no later than 7:00 p.m. on Election Day in order to be counted.

On January 20, 2022 the Waukesha County Circuit Court Branch 1 issued an order that changes the way we have been collecting some absentee ballots. It goes on to describe the ways a voter may return a voted absentee ballot. The options are:
1. An 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. The 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. The use of drop boxes, as described in the Memos issued by WEC, is not permitted under Wisconsin law unless the drop box is staffed by the clerk and located at the office of the clerk or a properly designated alternate site under Wis. Stat. § 6.855.
With this new guidance, the City of Fitchburg will no longer be using drop boxes to collect absentee ballots.
 To view the official directive from the Wisconsin Elections Commission, go to:
https://elections.wi.gov/node/7861

The use of a Drop Box during or after office hours is prohibited and could result in your ballot being challenged. 

Update:  Guidance on Absentee Ballot Return Options Under the Federal Voting Rights Act

 Pursuant to the Voting Rights Act, any Wisconsin voter who requires assistance with mailing or delivering their absentee ballot to the municipal clerk because of a disability must be permitted to receive such assistance by a person of the voter's choice, other than the voter's employer or agent of that employer or officer or agent of the voter's union.


In administering future elections, the City of Fitchburg shall comply with the above statutory requirement.

What does this mean?

When we are presented with an absentee ballot delivered in-person to the Clerk's Office, we will ask the following questions:

  • Are you the voter?  If not, then:
  • Are you delivering the voter's ballot because the voter has determined that they require assistance returning their ballot due to their disability?  If yes, then:
  • Are you someone other than the voter's employer, an agent of that employer, or an officer or agent of the voter's union?  If yes, then the ballot will be accepted.

If you are interested in more information regarding this issue, please see the following documents:

If you are not registered to vote, visit MyVote. You may submit both a voter registration application and an application for an absentee ballot at the same time.