MADISON — The Wisconsin Elections Commission is proud to announce the launch of an election education video series, “Elections 101,” that will help inform high school students and the public about how voting works in Wisconsin. 

The launch of the WEC video series is a direct response to the increased public need for information about Wisconsin’s election system. 

The four-part video series provides an overview of Wisconsin’s system of election administration, as well as a closer look at fundamental components of voting, such as registration, casting an absentee ballot, voting at the polls, and how Wisconsin keeps elections secure. 

The four-part video series is available for the public to view on the WEC’s website at elections.wi.gov/101. 

Starting Monday, Sept. 26, the WEC, with the assistance of the Department of Public Instruction, is making the four-video series available for use by high school educators across the state. 

For the classroom portion of the project, the WEC partnered with DPI to ensure the project would meet state educational standards and be disseminated broadly. Officials at DPI developed a lesson plan for each video to assist teachers in their classrooms. The lesson plans are available for public viewing on the elections.wi.gov/101 web page. 

“These videos will give high school students and the general public a comprehensive look at the fundamentals of voting and running elections in our state,” said WEC Administrator Meagan Wolfe. “We hope this project will help instill greater confidence in elections and voting among all generations of Wisconsinites.” 

The WEC hopes as many teachers as possible choose to incorporate the video series and accompanying lesson plans into their civics curriculum, which will help prepare students who want to better understand and engage in their democracy. While the WEC is launching the videos for students and the public to engage with before the November General Election, the videos are meant to be used for years to come. 

The four-part video series includes an election overview, followed by videos on the “nuts and bolts” of the election process, election security, and life at a polling place on Election Day.

The video project is the culmination of nearly a year of planning, including collaboration with several key partners. 

Through partnerships with the Wisconsin Newspaper Association, Wisconsin Broadcasters Association, and DPI, the education project will be promoted in newspapers and on radio stations across the state and be made available for use in classrooms. 

The WEC also thanks the Wisconsin Council for the Social Studies, Wisconsin Towns Association, Wisconsin County Clerks Association, and Wisconsin Municipal Clerks Association for providing feedback in the initial stages of the project.  

Wisconsinites have increasingly expressed a desire to know more about how our state’s elections work, especially when false information about voting systems is rampant. Agency staff hope this series of educational videos will provide a fun and engaging way to learn. 

“This project really gets at the basics of how election administration in Wisconsin works,” Wolfe said. “We’re excited to know that teachers across the state now have access to this content to help with civics education in their classrooms.”

Wolfe said the education project is aimed at all Wisconsin residents. She said Elections 101 is not about politics or candidates but rather rests on factual explanations of how elections really work in Wisconsin. The project is not a voter registration campaign.   

The WEC is grateful to the city of Madison, Badger Boys State, Disability Rights Wisconsin, the Wisconsin Disability Vote Coalition, Edgewood High School in Madison and Bradley Tech High School in Milwaukee for providing on-location sites and volunteer participants for filming.

Along with the polling place video that was shot at the Madison Municipal Building, the other on-location sites for the project included Badger Boys State on the UW-Eau Claire campus, Edgewood High School, and Bradley Tech High School. 

Along with the WEC’s website, the content may be available on many other sites as well, including those of project partners, various media outlets, and local jurisdictions.