Badger Book poll books are the wave of the future
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By LeAnn R. Ralph
Editor’s note: LeAnn R. Ralph serves as chair in the Town of Otter Creek.
ELK MOUND — Instead of signing a physical poll book with a pen, you could soon be electronically signing a Badger Book when you go to vote.
Andrew Mercil, Dunn County clerk, made a presentation to the Elk Mound Village Board at the May 1 meeting about the Badger Books electronic poll books.
When people come to vote, you scan in their driver’s license, and the Badger Book pulls up the individual’s voter registration, Mercil said.
The Badger Books are not connected to the Internet, but rather, information on voter registration is loaded onto the units by the county clerk, who has downloaded the information from the Wisconsin Elections Commission through a multi-step authentication process.
If voters are registered, then they sign in on the screen using either their finger or the stylus, Mercil said.
If someone needs to register as a voter, then the Badger Book can also do voter registration, he said.
The recommendation is that municipalities have two Badger Books, one for voter sign-in and one for registering voters, since Wisconsin allows same-day voter registration at the polls, Mercil said.
The Badger Book poll books save time and paper because the county clerk’s office does not have to print out hundreds of pages of voters for the paper poll books needed for each election.
Grants
Mercil said he had learned the lesson of thrift from his mother and that he had some money left over from the 2022 elections to be able to offer municipalities in the county a grant to buy the Badger Books.
The municipalities can either buy one Badger Book for $1,000, which is half price, or the municipality can buy one Badger Book for the full cost of $2,000 and receive another Badger Book for free, he said.
So far, 12 of the municipalities in Dunn County are using Badger Books, Mercil said.
There are 22 townships in Dunn County along with seven villages and one city, for a total of 30 municipalities all together.
The Town of Otter Creek has acquired a Badger Book, and it has worked well for elections.
Otter Creek has a population of about 500, so one Badger Book has been sufficient so far since there are rarely lines of voters waiting during elections, or if voters are waiting, it is rarely more than a handful in line.
Two Badger Books would seem to make more sense for municipalities with higher populations.
The Town of Tainter, for example, has a population of about 2,500.
Efficient
The Badger Books are an efficient system, Mercil said.
They also help to keep elections secure because the Badger Book pulls up the voter registration and the election clerks then check the ID to see that it matches the person who brought it in, he said.
The Badger Book also prevents people from voting at the wrong location, he said.
If someone shows up at the wrong polling location, the election clerk will find out that he or she is not registered for that location and can help direct the voters to the right location, Mercil said.
Computer literacy
Do they work for the computer illiterate? asked one Elk Mound Village Board member.
The election workers pick up quickly on using the Badger Book. If the election worker misses a step in the process, the Badger Book will not let you move on, Mercil said.
Mercil has conducted training for the election clerks to use the Badger Books and is planning a county-wide training for this fall and will come out to specific locations in early 2024 to do one-on-one training.
As for the voters, all they have to do is sign their name on the screen, Mercil said.
The screen is similar to the screen someone signs when using a credit card or a debit card.
Presidential election
During the presidential election, there will be a lot of voters at all of the locations, which always presents a challenge for the election workers, said Terry Stamm, village president.
By the time of the 2024 presidential election, poll workers will have had three elections to become completely practiced with the Badger Books, Mercil said.
Elk Mound does not have it in the budget, and the Badger Books are not on the agenda, but the Badger Books can be put on the next agenda, Stamm said.
Mercil said there was a deadline of June 1 so that he can order the Badger Books and receive them in a timely fashion.
The Wisconsin Elections Commission eventually will require a Badger Book for all voting locations, Mercil said.
The Badger Books are good for 10 years, and $1,000 over 10 years is an economical way to make sure that elections are secure, he said.
Governor Tony Evers has said he wants the Badger Books in the budget in order to help municipalities purchase them but the state Legislature says “no,” Mercil noted.
There are approximately 1,800 municipalities in Wisconsin.
