How to Be Certain Your Vote will Be Counted on Election Day

Who can vote in Wisconsin?

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Wisconsin looks to be a battleground state. Here are some tips from the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Wisconsin to make sure you are ready to cast your vote. Keep in mind that registration proves where you live, while identification proves who you are.

Step One: You Must Be Registered

Voter registration is not the same as voter ID. To vote in Wisconsin, you must first be registered. To see if you’re registered at your current address, check online at myvote.wi.gov/registertovote.

You have to register if:

  • You’ve never voted in Wisconsin before.
  • You’ve moved since the last time you voted in Wisconsin—even if you just moved across the street or to a new apartment in your building.
  • You changed your name (by marriage, divorce, etc.) since the last time you voted. If you changed your name, you must first update your name in person at the Social Security office and at the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV). Then, you can register to vote.
  • You haven’t voted in four years or more (and have been taken off the voter registration rolls).
  • You were taken off the voter registration rolls because you were convicted of a felony, and you’re now “off paper.” For more information on voting with criminal convictions, visit aclu-wi.org/votingrightscriminalconvictions.

In order to register, you generally have to provide a document with your name and address to prove where you live. All Proof of Residence documents must include the voter’s name and current residential address. Wisconsin allows voters to register at the polls.

Proof of Residence documents can include:

  • A current and valid Wisconsin driver’s license or Wisconsin photo ID card.  
  • Any other official identification card or license issued by a Wisconsin governmental body.  
  • Any identification card issued by an employer in the normal course of business and bearing a photo of the card holder (but not including a business card).
  • A real estate tax bill or receipt for the current year or the year preceding the election.
  • A university, college or technical college identification card (with photo), but only if the voter provides a fee receipt dated within the last nine months or the institution provides a certified housing list to the municipal clerk.
  • A gas, electric or telephone service statement (utility bill) for the 90 days before election day. 
  • A bank or credit card statement with address indicated. 
  • A paycheck or paystub with address indicated.
  • A check or other document issued by a unit of government.
  • A letter on public or private social service agency letterhead identifying a homeless voter and describing the individual’s residence for voting purposes.
  • A residential lease that is effective on the date of registration. (This option isn’t available if you’re registering by mail.)
  • An intake document from a residential care facility, such as a nursing home or an assisted living facility.

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(Information provided by the Wisconsin Elections Commission)

Step Two: Registered? Good. Now You Need Valid Identification

Voter ID is in effect in Wisconsin. In order to vote, you need to prove who you are. Poll workers don’t care about the address on this piece of information.

Most voters need a photo ID to vote in person on election day, to vote early in person at the clerk’s office or to vote absentee by mail. (Voter ID is not the same as voter registration; if you have voter registration questions, visit aclu-wi.org/voterregistrationquestions.)

Most voters need one of the following kinds of photo ID to vote (if you have any of these, you have what you need):

  • A Wisconsin driver’s license, current or expired since 11/6/18 (you can’t use an out-of-state license).
  • A Wisconsin photo ID card from the DMV, current or expired since 11/6/18.
  • A U.S. passport, current or expired since 11/6/18.
  • A uniformed services (military) ID, current or expired since 11/6/18 or “indefinite” with no expiration date.
  • A Veteran’s Administration ID, unexpired or with no expiration date.
  • A photo ID from a federally recognized Native American tribe in Wisconsin.
  • A naturalization certificate from the two years before an election.
  • A student ID from a Wisconsin college or university as long as said ID has a name, photo, signature, issuance date and expiration date no more than two years from the issuance date—plus proof of enrollment. For information on which colleges have IDs you can use to vote, visit commoncausewisconsin.org/p/the-three-things-college-students-need.html.
  • A receipt from the DMV from applying for a license or state ID card (unexpired).

Some Voters Don’t Need an ID to Vote

These voters are:

  • Permanent overseas and military voters.
  • Voters who are elderly or disabled and consider themselves “indefinitely confined” to their home can vote absentee by mail without a photo ID. These voters are often called “permanent absentees.” Mark item six as “indefinitely confined” on the absentee ballot application form.
  • Voters in nursing homes or other care facilities who vote with “special voting deputies.”

Your photo ID does not have to have your current address to be valid for voting! If you move, you don’t have to get an ID with your new address. If you need to register to vote, you need a document with your current address, which can be—but doesn’t have to be—your license or ID card. Your photo ID does not have to have the exact name you use to vote. Nicknames are OK! Elections officials have said, “Richards who go by Rich, Bobs who are also Roberts and Susans with IDs for Sue can all relax.” Also, your photo ID just has to “reasonably resemble” you. Elections officials have said, “Even if you’ve colored your hair, shaved your beard or lost some weight, as long as your photo ID reasonably resembles you, it should be accepted.”

If you don’t have a valid photo ID, you can apply for an ID for free at any Wisconsin DMV office. If you have never had a Wisconsin driver’s license or Wisconsin photo ID card (or if you haven’t had one in the last eight years), you should bring:

  • Proof of birth, such as a birth certificate (or one of a few less common kinds of proof of name and date of birth, like a consular report of birth abroad or a certificate of citizenship). If you would have to pay for a birth certificate, you can go to the DMV and fill out the “Document Process Verification” form (MV3012) to try to have birth records verified for free. This is called the “ID Petition Process.”
  • Proof of identity, like a Social Security card, ID or license from another state or any similar document.
  • Proof of residence issued in the last 90 days.

If you’ve had a Wisconsin driver’s license/photo ID card in the last eight years but it’s been lost, stolen or expired, you should be able to get a new Wisconsin photo ID card for free with:

  • Proof of identity (if you don’t have any of the proof of identity papers, you can ask the DMV to look up a copy of your photo in their computer system).
  • Proof of residence.

If you’ve changed your name (for example, due to marriage, divorce or a name change), you also need to change the name on your ID. If you need help reading or speaking English or are handicapped, you can bring someone to assist you. And, last but not least, please vote, because your vote matters!

The above information was compiled from aclu-wi.org/voterid and elections.wi.gov/sites/elections.wi.gov/files/2019-01/27-28 proof of residence 2019.pdf.