MADISON – The Wisconsin Elections Commission on Friday is reminding voters about the need to be cautious when receiving or responding to communications purporting to represent official voting information about the upcoming Nov. 5 General Election.
The WEC has heard recently from concerned voters and local election officials regarding unsolicited communications that may provide inaccurate or misleading information. Voters should be cautious about any voting-related communications – including text messages, emails, mailers, phone calls, robocalls, and more – from unfamiliar sources. Sometimes, these misleading communications even appear to mimic communications from an official government source. They often use outdated, incomplete, or simply inaccurate data that they communicate to voters.
“We can’t stress enough that voters should be very careful when dealing with this type of unsolicited outreach, as the information being put forth is often inaccurate and misleading,” said Wisconsin Elections Commission Administrator Meagan Wolfe, the state’s chief election official.
When it comes to voting information, Wisconsinites should make sure to rely upon accurate, official sources. This includes the WEC’s official MyVote.wi.gov website. There, voters can check if and where they are registered to vote. They can also review their voter history (the voter’s past election participation), find their polling place, see what’s on their sample ballot, request an absentee ballot, track that ballot, or learn about in-person absentee voting options.
Voters can also contact their municipal clerk, who can confirm a voter’s registration status and answer any questions a voter might have in advance of the Nov. 5 General Election. Voters can find their clerk’s contact information on the MyVote website.
One recent case was in the form of a text message campaign from an organization called AllVote, which was contacting voters with information about their voting or registration status that may have been inaccurate. The text messages the WEC reviewed also provided a link to what at first appeared to be the voter’s municipal website but was incorrect. Wolfe said these third-party groups will often attempt to represent themselves as an official source of election information.
“Nothing could be further from the truth,” Wolfe said. “The WEC’s MyVote Wisconsin website is the official source of information for voters. Voters can visit MyVote – at MyVote.wi.gov – to find almost anything they need to know about the upcoming election. The MyVote site and the local clerk’s office are always going to be the best path for voters who have any questions,” Wolfe said.