Election Day--April 4th---What you need to know

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE FOR MORE INFORMATION, CONTACT:

March 28, 2006 Ima Clerk, 800-555-5555

Requirements for Registering on Election Day
Elections Board Adjusts Rule to Avoid Voter Confusion
GENERIC, WI – Voters who plan to register on election day April 4 need to know the new requirements prior to heading to their polling place.

To register, a voter needs to provide a driver license or Wisconsin State ID number, as well as personal information such as name, address and date of birth. If a voter has no driver license number or state ID card, she can use the last four digits of her Social Security number. Also, if she has neither a driver license number, a Wisconsin state identification number nor a Social Security number, she can check a box on the form attesting to that.

Questions have come up about the registering voter who has a Wisconsin driver license but arrives at the polling place without the driver license number.

The State Elections Board (SEB) recently decided that if a registering voter arrives at the polling place on election day, April 4, without her driver license number she will be allowed to register using the last four digits of her Social Security number.

The Board based its decision on Wisconsin’s current transition to statewide voter registration, and the premise that no registering voter ought to be turned away because she/he is not able to provide a driver license number. This specific exception to the driver license number requirement is only for the April 4 election. The SEB will reconsider the requirements at a future meeting.

All other same-day voter registration rules still apply, including providing proof of residence.

For more information about Wisconsin voter registration and election procedures contact the Wisconsin State Elections Board at 1-866-VOTEWIS (868-3947) or seb@seb.state.wi.us, or visit its website at http://elections.wi.gov.

NR.SVRS.MC10.April 4 registration

###