How to track your ballot after voting absentee in Wisconsin

In Wisconsin, voters can track their absentee ballots after they’ve been sent to ensure their votes are received and counted.

The Wisconsin Elections Commission has created the “Track my Ballot” tool on its MyVote site, accessible here.

Here's how it works.

The tool prompts voters to enter their first and last name and date of birth to access information about their ballots.

Once a voter enters their name and date of birth, their voter status and current address pop up. 

If a voter hasn’t yet requested an absentee ballot, they can request it here.

The "local absentee" option describes more ways to return absentee ballots before Election Day, including going to an in-person voting location, making an appointment with an election clerk or using a secure ballot drop box.

Voters can also update their name and address information if it’s become out of date.

If an absentee ballot has already been requested, there’s a “View My Request” option. 

Voters who've already requested a ballot but need to update their name or address must contact their municipal clerk’s office. If a voter wants to cancel their absentee ballot request, they should contact their municipal clerk’s office as well.

Clicking “View My Request” opens a page with a rectangular tracker. 

The tracker shows six rectangles, which display the steps in the absentee process.

Blue boxes signify that a step has been completed — so a row of completely blue boxes means the absentee ballot was received successfully. 

A gray box signifies that the step hasn’t been completed yet.

An orange box means something went wrong — possibly issues with the voter's signature, photo ID or witness. To identify the problem and get it fixed, voters should contact their municipal clerk’s office. The MyVote site includes information on how to contact local clerk offices, accessible here.

The Elections Commission says it typically takes ballots about seven days to show as "received" after a voter sends it back. If it's been more than seven days, voters should contact their local municipal clerk’s office.

When will my vote show as being counted?

In Wisconsin, clerks may not count votes from absentee ballots until Election Day. It then takes up to 30 days for results to be certified and for voters' participation to be recorded on their MyVote page.