UW-Eau Claire is working with Campus Vote Project to encourage students to participate in the Wisconsin 2023 spring election on April 4.

Campus Vote Project is a non-partisan, unbiased organization and according to their website, their mission is to work with “universities, community colleges, faculty, students and election officials to reduce barriers to student voting.”

Kristin Hansen, the Wisconsin state coordinator at Campus Vote Project, works with higher education institutions in Wisconsin and most of the universities in the UW System.

Hansen said Campus Vote Project helps students register to vote, helps students to vote and institutionalizes the voting process on campuses.

“This isn’t something that you’re just doing when there’s a big election every other year, but that it becomes part of the fabric of campus life to always know where you can go to find out information about voting,” Hansen said. “We do (this work) every year, every semester. We’re always here to help students vote.”

Hansen said Campus Vote Project’s work is especially important in Wisconsin because the state treats college voters differently than the general public.

“Our laws are designed to make it more difficult for students to vote than anyone else. Whether that is the voter ID laws, the proof of residence, the polling place situations — if you don’t have a car on campus and your polling place is far away, the school either has to figure out how to shuttle you or you’re on your own with how to get there,” Hansen said.

Wisconsin voters can register online at myvote.wi.gov, in person in the local city hall, by mail or at the polls on Election Day, according to the State of Wisconsin Elections Commission.

To register online, voters need their full legal name, date of birth, address and a valid form of Wisconsin ID. According to the Elections Commission, online registration must be completed 20 days before Election day, and for the Wisconsin 2023 spring election, that deadline is Wednesday, March 15.

Wisconsin voters can register at their city hall through March 31 and then at the polls on Election Day, but the deadline to register by mail has to be postmarked 20 days before Election Day, according to the Elections Commission.

“For students who are not from Wisconsin, the registration process is much different than for students who live here,” Hansen said. “If you don’t (have a Wisconsin ID), you have to go through the process on paper and mail it in with copies of your ID, go to the clerk’s office yourself or you can register on the day of the election.”

At the polls, voters need a photo ID — current and valid driver’s licenses or state ID cards, university photo ID cards — and proof of residence, such as mail with a current address, according to the Elections Commission.

Blugold IDs are an acceptable form of photo ID and there will be a certified housing list for proof of residence for on-campus students on Election Day in the polling place in Davies Student Center, according to UW-Eau Claire.

“You can register on the day of the election, which is fantastic,” Hansen said. “Wisconsin allows registration on the day of the election and a lot of people choose to do that because there’s someone there to help you.”

Voters can also vote early beginning March 21 by mail-in absentee voting or in-person at their local city hall, according to the Elections Commission. 

Hansen said students can also use myvote.wi.gov to check their voter registration or what’s on their ballot. For a non-partisan and unbiased voter guide, students can go to guides.vote. 

“You should make sure you research (your ballot). There’s some referendums on the ballot you should look at, there’s local races on the ballot — the very people who represent your campus might be up for election — so there’s research to be done there,” Hansen said. “There’s an organization called guides.vote and they have nonpartisan and unbiased information about the candidates.”

Hansen said Campus Vote Project will be doing a majority of its work through UW-Eau Claire’s Student Senate. 

Hannah Kelly is the director of the Intergovernmental Affairs commission in the senate and represents the student body by working with shared governances and legislative bodies within the City of Eau Claire, UW System and the state of Wisconsin.

“We’re working with (Campus Vote Project) because they’re non-partisan and they have an entire initiative just for promoting voting on college campuses so I felt they were a good resource,” Kelly said. “They were very forward and reached out to a lot of different people in senate.”

Kelly said she received resources from the organization, including posters and handouts for students, and will explore the opportunity for UW-Eau Claire to become a Voter Friendly Campus.

“College students are an incredibly underrepresented age group and demographic, so a lot of representatives don’t think about us when they’re making decisions,” Kelly said. “It’s important that we make sure they know that we are voting and we are paying attention to what they do.”

The Intergovernmental Affairs commission will be tabling with the League of Women Voters from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Wednesday, March 29 in Davies Student Center, according to Kelly.

The commission will also be tabling with the Communications commission for Motivation Monday on Monday, April 3 outside Davies. Kelly said the senate will be giving away free coffee and tea to students with coffee sleeves with QR codes which will lead to Campus Vote Project’s resources for the April 4 election.

At the senate meeting on Monday, March 13, Senator Matthew Lehner introduced resolution 66-R-9 calling on UW-Eau Claire to add voting as an excused absence.

Lehner said adding voting as a university-excused absence would allow students to make time to vote and “access the ballot box with as little friction as possible.”

“The biggest thing we have found when dealing with students — but I think this applies honestly to the entire general public — people just don’t know when the election is. Make sure you vote on April 4,” Hansen said.

More information about voting in Wisconsin can be found at myvote.wi.gov. and more information about Campus Vote Project can be found at campusvoteproject.org. 

Kasper can be reached at [email protected].