title
City Clerk debrief of the November 5, 2024 General Election
body
Submitted by:
Steven Braatz, City Clerk
Zachary Kessler, Deputy City Clerk
Department:
City Clerk
A. By the Numbers
Totals
• Total Absentees Processed Successfully: 21,521
• Total In-Person Voters: 10,695
• Total Voters: 32,216
• Total turnout: 92.49%
Totals by Polling Sites - In-Person Voters
• Wauwatosa City Hall - Lower Civic Center (Wards 1, 2A, 2B, 3): 1,236
• St. Matthews Evangelical Lutheran Church (Wards 4A, 4B, 6B): 557
• Trinity Episcopal Church (Wards 5, 6A): 507
• St. Camillus (Wards 7, 8, 9A, 9B): 1,560
• Honey Creek Church (Wards 10, 11, 12A, 12B): 1,407
• Wauwatosa Library - Firefly Room (Wards 13, 14, 15): 1,171
• Mt. Mary University (Wards 16, 17, 18): 1,189
• Mt. Zion Lutheran Church (Wards 19, 20A, 20B, 21A, 21B): 1,601
• Annunciation Greek Orthodox Church (Wards 22, 23, 24A, 24B): 1,467
Absentees
• Total absentees mailed: 8,878
• Total absentees emailed: 197
• Total absentees Special Voting Deputy: 238
• Total absentees online: 23
• Total IPAV: 12,869
• Total Absentees Issued: 22,205
• Total absentees returned and counted: 21,521
• Total mailed ballots returned via the absentee drop box: 2,702
• Total absentees rejected: 10
• Total absentees voter refused: 12
• Total absentees returned after the deadline (as of 11-8-24): 31
• Total absentees returned (in some manner): 21,574
• Percentage returned vs. issued: 97.16%
• Percentage returned and counted vs. rejected: 0.0005%
Voter Registration Applications
• Late Registrations (from October 17-November 1): 896
• Election Day Registrations: 1,898
Workforce
• Clerk’s Office:
o Zach Kessler, Deputy City Clerk
o Misty Richey, Office Assistant
o Emma Rose, Office Assistant
o Ying Xiong, Office Assistant
o Jill Kenda-Lubetski, Temporary Office Assistant
o Nick Carleton, Election Tech - from DPW
o David Gil, Election Tech - from Engineering
o Tony Schallitz, Election Tech - from DPW
o Jonah Wormington, Election Tech - from DPW
• Special Voting Deputies: 24, 8 qualified care facilities, 2 visits each
• In-Person Absentee Workers: 48, 10 days
• Polling Place Poll Workers: 223, 9 polling sites, including 13 High School students
• Central Count Workers: 39
• Other: A variety of City Staff and poll workers assisted with mailing absentee ballots, balancing and sorting absentee ballots, and coordinating polling site supplies
B. Other Information
Polling Sites
The City approved five new polling sites at the beginning of the year. Despite the mailings earlier in the year, using the sites for the April and August elections, and various communications, some voters were still unsure of their polling site. Overall, the setup and flow of each polling site worked out well. Since so many voters voted ahead of Election Day, most polling sites experienced little to no lines after the morning rush.
In-Person Absentee Voting (IPAV)
IPAV moved to the Lower Civic Center beginning in August. Due to the location change, a member of the Clerk’s Office was stationed at the site at all times. The setup worked well, with many compliments from voters. The first two days were marred by slowdowns of the State voter database system, which led to long lines - but this issue was corrected by the third day. IPAV was open on Saturday, October 26, and we had extended hours the last week of IPAV. Overall, we averaged 1,430 voters each day, factoring out the Saturday shift, which was only five hours.
Poll Worker Trainings
There were many opportunities for training, including:
• Poll worker, Central Count, and IPAV training videos
• In-person Badger Book and scenarios training
• In-person Chief training
• Election equipment training
• In-person Greeter training
• Election Tech training
• Pre-Election Briefing meetings - one specific to the Chief Inspectors and one with all Election Day Workers
Intergovernmental and Interdepartmental Preparation
In preparation for a Presidential election, the Clerk’s Office met and coordinated with the Police Department, Fire Department, Health Department, Department of Public Works, IT, Communications, and City Attorney’s Office. Together we prepared contingency plans, including responses to threats, medical issues, emergency polling site changes, legal challenges, technical needs, weather-related scenarios, and more. The Clerk’s Office also met with County, State, and Federal Officials to prepare for similar issues regionally and nationally, as well as the Wauwatosa School District to identify additional backup polling sites.
Other Preparations and Challenges
As with any big election, many third-party organizations send out mailings, e-mails, text messages, and phone calls. We received several calls from voters concerned about these communications and/or think they are coming from the City Clerk’s Office.
The Clerk’s Office spent time preparing for a variety of electioneering-related issues, including signs, IPAV and polling-place distance requirements, messaging from the State regarding voters wearing clothing at the polling place, and similar matters.
We also spent time preparing for the swath of observers we anticipated during IPAV, Central Count, and at the polling sites. During IPAV, we had an average of three observers each day. Central Count had 14 observers. Each polling site had between 2 and 13 observers. There were no issues.
During IPAV, we assisted many voters in canceling their mailed absentees so they could vote IPAV. This process requires a higher level of Wisvote (voter database) access, which could only be done by Clerk’s Office staff. Some voters brought their mailed ballot in with them and were sent to the Clerk’s Office to vote on and return their mailed ballot. Staff spent considerable time explaining that both IPAV and mailed absentees were forms of absentee voting.
C. Upcoming 2025 Elections
• Spring Primary - Tuesday, February 18
• Spring Election - Tuesday, April 1