Flooded with political mailers? Election officials share how to tell which are legitimate

MADISON, Wis. — As Election Day draws closer, political campaigns are going down every route to reach potential voters, including the mail route. But apart from those telling you who to vote for, can you trust the ones that tell you how to cast your ballot?

Just under a month out from Election Day now, but there’s rarely a moment Madison Deputy City Clerk Jim Verbick and his staff can sit and relax.

“I know a lot of people just see voting as happening on Election Day. And there’s a lot of things that happen leading up to that,” Verbick said.

There can also be a lot for us to keep track of at home, like all the political mailers we receive. “I think there’s different PACs that send stuff out as political parties, as nonprofits that sort of send these out,” he said.

Most are easy to spot as from a specific campaign or party, but some can blur the lines between partisan, official, and alarming — especially if for example you moved and are unsure if you’re still registered to vote.

“We have a lot of people who are concerned that they’ve been given a registration form, but they’re already registered and they’re concerned whether or not they’re still registered,” Verbick said. “And 99% of the time they are still registered.”

Verbick says the city clerk’s office likely won’t mail you a registration form unless requested.

To check if it’s legitimate, regardless of who sent it to you, the return address should still be that of your municipal clerk. “I would not send the registration form to any third party group to get to us,” Verbick said.

While he hasn’t heard of anyone sending their information to someone malicious, it can and has happened. This goes for registration forms and places that point you to websites to request an absentee ballot that aren’t myvote.wi.gov.

“Have hesitation to provide any third party group with your driver’s license number, your date of birth, your last four of your social,” Verbick said. “All these things are identifiable information that you don’t want getting out to someone who may have any other intentions of it.”

Wednesday was the last day to register to vote remotely, but you can still do so in person when in-person absentee voting starts October 22. To check your location, head to myvote.wi.gov.

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