MADISON, Wis. – The Wisconsin Elections Commission (WEC) is mailing postcards this week to more than 200-thousand registered voters who have not voted in the past four years.
The postcards are titled “Official Voter Registration Notice.” State law requires the WEC to mail notices to registered voters who have not voted in four years. These voters have 30 days to respond and confirm their eligibility to remain an active registered voter. If their clerk does not hear from them or if their mailing is undeliverable, their voter registration will be deactivated, and they will need to reregister if they wish to vote in future elections.
This mailing happens every two years following a November election. This week’s postcards are being sent to voters who have not voted since the November 2020 General Election. The postcard asks otherwise eligible recipients whether they want to remain a registered voter at the listed address.
To stay registered, voters who still live at the address on the postcard must sign the part of the postcard that says, “I hereby certify that I still reside at the address listed below, have not had a change of name, and want to stay registered to vote in Wisconsin.” Voters must then return the postcard to their municipal clerk. It must arrive by July 15. Voters must still be otherwise eligible to vote in Wisconsin to stay on the list.
Voters who do not respond will have their voter record deactivated on July 31. The registration of a voter will also be deactivated if the Post Office is unable to deliver their postcard.
If you receive a postcard and your name or address has changed, please do not return the postcard. Instead, please re- register under your new name or address. Voters can register online up to 20 days before an election at the MyVote Wisconsin website if they have a current Wisconsin driver license (DL) or state ID card. The address printed on your DL or ID does not need to be current, but your current address must be on file with the Wisconsin Division of Motor Vehicles (DMV). Voters may also register by mail up to 20 days before an election, after that time period they may register at the clerk’s office until the Friday before the election, or at the polling place on Election Day.
If you receive an Official Voter Registration Notice postcard but believe you voted in Wisconsin in the past four years, please contact your local municipal clerk, who is responsible for recording who voted in an election. Your clerk’s name and contact information are on the postcard. Only eligible voters can register to vote or remain on the Wisconsin voter rolls. To be eligible to vote, you must be at least 18 years of age, you must be a citizen of the United States of America, you cannot be serving any portion of a felony sentence, and you must meet all other eligibility and residency requirements as outlined in Wisconsin State Statute.
This mailing is different than mailings from independent voter registration groups. The WEC’s postcard will have an ‘Official Election Mail’ logo near the postage mark. If independent mailings raise questions about whether you are registered or need to reregister, you can contact your municipal clerk’s office or check your registration status at our MyVote Wisconsin website.
In addition to sending out postcards every two years, the WEC is continually helping Wisconsin’s roughly 1,850 municipal clerks keep the voter list current. Working together with Wisconsin’s clerks, the Commission is making the statewide voter database more accurate. This has many benefits to Wisconsin voters and taxpayers, both in the election process and in the costs of conducting elections.
Wisconsin Voter Registration and List Maintenance Facts
- Wisconsin’s 2024 estimated voting-age population was 4,713,323 people, according to the latest numbers from the state’s Demographic Services Center.
- Of those represented in the voting age population, a total of 3,885,960 people were actively registered to vote as of December 2024. That’s 77% of the voting-age population.
- State law requires the Elections Commission to conduct voter list maintenance every two years after each General Election. The purpose is to identify registered voters who have not voted in the past four years, attempt to contact them, and deactivate those who have moved or who no longer wish to remain registered.
- This is the nineth time Wisconsin has conducted four-year voter list maintenance, in accordance with state law, since creating its statewide registration system in 2006- which is also when the law to conduct four-year maintenance went into effect.
- The number of postcards mailed every two years varies greatly, depending on whether it follows an election for president or for governor. In 2019, the state mailed nearly 114,000 postcards to voters, compared to nearly 380,000 postcards in 2017. In 2021 there were approximately 186,900 and in 2023 roughly 116,000.
- In 2023, a total of 77,726 voters who were mailed the response did not respond at all to the notice.
- The Elections Commission works closely with the Wisconsin Department of Health Services and the Wisconsin Department of Corrections to identify and regularly deactivate voters who have died or been convicted of a felony.
- The number of continuations requested and record deactivations conducted will be posted to elections.wi.gov after July 31.
More information about the four-year voter record maintenance process is posted to the Commission’s website.
