Election impact

The cancellation of in-person classes by UW-Madison, UW-Stevens Point and possibly others has the potential to reduce student turnout in Wisconsin’s upcoming April 7 spring election and presidential primary.

UW-Madison officials said they expect the absence of those in student housing to have a limited impact on the election.

"I would hope any of our students will be involved in their civic duty of voting, and the majority of students are still going to be here on campus in the city and able to vote as they normally would," Blank said.

She said she expected many students in residence halls have maintained voter registration at their permanent home addresses and will likely vote from there.

There were 40,527 total occupants across UW-System’s 13 four-year locations in the fall of 2018. Roughly 7,800 of those students lived in UW-Madison residence halls.

A spokesman for the Wisconsin Elections Commission said students who may have to leave the dormitories and who cannot be in Madison on election day can request to receive absentee ballots. They can make those requests at the city clerk’s office or through the MyVote.wi.gov website.

Students who remain in the area can use any of the city’s in-person absentee voting sites. The deadline to request an absentee ballot for regular and permanent overseas voters is April 2, while the deadline for voters who are indefinitely confined is April 3. The deadline for in-person absentee voting is April 5 depending on the municipality.

The Madison City Clerk’s office will also be open from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Thursday and from 8 a.m. until 6 p.m. Friday for students who wish to register and vote before leaving campus.

Absentee ballots must be received by mail or delivered to a municipal clerk no later than 8 p.m. on election day.

According to the Elections Commission, once a student has established residency at a campus address, the student may vote using that address until a new voting residence is established. This applies even if a student is temporarily away or doesn’t know where his or her campus address will be for the following school year.

If the student has previously registered to vote at a campus address, the student may not register to vote at a home or different address until re‐establishing residency for 10 consecutive days before the election.

— Riley Vetterkind