Wisconsin's Statewide Voter Registration System (SVRS) keeps track of more than 3.3 million voters. Each time a new resident registers to vote - or a current resident changes personal information - their voter records are updated.
But because the laws were changed and the voter's date of birth is now required as part of the voter record, Wisconsin has a number of records that are incomplete. More than 150,000 voters' dates of birth in the SVRS have defaulted to a single date, making it potentially difficult for local election officials to differentiate between some voters.
Consequently on Feb. 19, if you go to your polling place to vote, you may be asked by a poll worker to double-check your date of birth. The date of birth is required to be in a voter's record and to be kept confidential, and being asked to provide it should not alarm any voters.
Having a voter's correct date of birth in the system is important to clerks because voter data will soon be compared with other Wisconsin state departments' data, such as that of Transportation, Corrections, and Health and Family Services. If someone else registers to vote with your driver's license number, election officials will be able to inactivate that new voter's record and investigate the situation.
Likewise, if a deceased person or a person currently serving a felony conviction has the same first and last name as you have, the data comparison in the SVRS should be able to help make sure that your voter registration is not inactivated in place of theirs by the clerk. In short, making sure election officials have your proper date of birth will help ensure you are not mixed up with someone else.
Finally, for those who are concerned about someone finding out their real age, consider that fact that more than 150,000 people in the state currently are listed as being born on Jan. 1, 1900. If you're not really 108 years old, you may want to give the poll worker your date of birth just to get that corrected!
For more information about Election Day registration, contact the City of Monroe Clerk's Office at (608) 329-2524, or see the State Elections Division Web site at http://elections.wi.gov.
But because the laws were changed and the voter's date of birth is now required as part of the voter record, Wisconsin has a number of records that are incomplete. More than 150,000 voters' dates of birth in the SVRS have defaulted to a single date, making it potentially difficult for local election officials to differentiate between some voters.
Consequently on Feb. 19, if you go to your polling place to vote, you may be asked by a poll worker to double-check your date of birth. The date of birth is required to be in a voter's record and to be kept confidential, and being asked to provide it should not alarm any voters.
Having a voter's correct date of birth in the system is important to clerks because voter data will soon be compared with other Wisconsin state departments' data, such as that of Transportation, Corrections, and Health and Family Services. If someone else registers to vote with your driver's license number, election officials will be able to inactivate that new voter's record and investigate the situation.
Likewise, if a deceased person or a person currently serving a felony conviction has the same first and last name as you have, the data comparison in the SVRS should be able to help make sure that your voter registration is not inactivated in place of theirs by the clerk. In short, making sure election officials have your proper date of birth will help ensure you are not mixed up with someone else.
Finally, for those who are concerned about someone finding out their real age, consider that fact that more than 150,000 people in the state currently are listed as being born on Jan. 1, 1900. If you're not really 108 years old, you may want to give the poll worker your date of birth just to get that corrected!
For more information about Election Day registration, contact the City of Monroe Clerk's Office at (608) 329-2524, or see the State Elections Division Web site at http://elections.wi.gov.
