Welcome everybody to Midday magazine for this Wednesday October 30th, 2024.
Have your host James J. Mailoff here. Joining us right now our good friend would
kind of clerk Trent Minor in studio. Trent, good to see you. Nice seeing you.
Thanks for having me. Appreciate the time as always know how busy you are,
especially this time of year. So thank you so much for being able to join us
today. We're going to go through kind of a checklist, if you will, about voting,
what you need to know, what you should have in place before November 5th. But
before we do that and get an absentee balloting and some other notes, we did
want to start somewhere at a really important place here, Trent. Yeah, recently,
well, when I started working elections as 30 some years ago, and the county clerk
of the time was Tony Roosh. Tony recently passed away at the age of 97.
And really, Wood County owes him a huge debt of gratitude for the systems that
he, he was very forward thinking when it came to elections, the systems we
have in place now are really thanks to Tony. And then my predecessor, Cindy
C. Chris and myself, we just keep adding to it and making it better. So our
condolences to his family and his wonderful wife. But yeah, Tony really, he's
missing it. I know he is, but he's watching from upstairs and making sure we're
doing everything right. So we miss him. We appreciate him.
Appreciate his service to our community and the work that he put in a trail
blazer. Absolutely. Absolutely. And I mean, he just loved he, he, he breathed
local government. I mean, he was town of Siegel chairman for a number of
years. Town clerk, he was on the county board for 13 years, and then was
county clerk for 19. I mean, the guy just bled local, local stuff. And I always
went to Tony, whenever I need something historical answered, yeah, he's my
man. And there's actually one time this past week, and it's like, Oh, I wonder
what that was, you know, who this was and what just about reach for the email
because Tony would check his iPad religiously. I reach for the email, it's like,
Oh, dog gone it. Yeah, the email isn't going to make it there this time. So,
yeah, I appreciate everything he did, the work that he did to where we can get
to the place we are now with this, where I've never, so I come from a very
political family, especially growing up in Chicago, where politics, you know
about that, like you know, your sports teams. And, and certainly have been
voting since I was 18 and a proud member of the proud ability of being able to
do that. I've never felt more confident going into an election when it comes to
my vote. I've never, and I've, oh, and I've never not felt confident about it,
I should say. But with all the talk of this, that you and I don't shy away from
or anything. And everybody knows what I'm referring to there with all the,
that out there that has put such a microscope on so much of our election
process, which in some, and to, in some ways, I'm proud of, and I'm thankful
for, because I don't mind checks and balances and anymore, I'm sure that you
don't or anybody does in this process. So it's never a bad idea to do that.
And I think that there's been some things that have been brought up and that
have done to enhance the process. And as far as the trust and the strength
we feel in this. But I also feel this way, because I trust my community,
I trust my, my neighbors, I trust the people in my community. I trust the
people in the surrounding communities. I, I don't necessarily, we don't all,
you know, play for the, or want for the same sports team to win or something
like that, or come from the same high schools or some of those things.
But at the end of the day, I trust that my fellow citizens, my fellow
Americans were all on the same page when it comes to democracy.
We all believe in a democracy in living in a democracy.
Exactly. I, you know, and just the changes, like I mentioned, I've been doing
this for a number of years, the changes that had come through just in my
career in working in elections. It doesn't seem that long.
And I don't think it is 30 some years. But I mean, look at the changes that
have come into place. I mean, photo ID and all these different checks and
balances that we're not there when I started. We literally had a poll book
that we, you didn't have to register in the smaller townships. You know,
you just, oh, the neighbors showed up and you had an old poll book and you,
you wrote down their name, you wrote down their address.
And oh, how you doing? And you had no idea if they moved or they didn't move.
They didn't have to register anything like that.
So those checks and balances, while yes, they're good things to make sure that
everything is on, on the up and up.
Are good things that have happened over the past 30 years to make, to enhance
that level of comfort for everybody? Absolutely.
Trent, let's get into a bit of a checklist, if you will, of things that
people should know going into the election on November 5th.
There's certainly that one of the number one things we like to bring up.
We bring up on our morning shows all the time, making sure that you're a
register. Absolutely. Making sure you're registered. If you're not registered,
you can do so on election day, plan on a little bit of a wait.
But you can certainly do that. Make sure you're bringing you along proof of
residency, such as your driver's license, if it has your current address or
utility bill, those types of things, making sure that we have that proof of
residency. Also, photo ID, this isn't a new thing anymore.
Bringing drivers license or passport along so that we see that it's you,
you as you, so to speak, make sure you have that with you as well.
The lines shouldn't be just all that horrible around Wisconsin rapids.
We've seen, you know, we're in the middle of in person absentee voting
right now. And that has just been phenomenally busy the past week and a
half to where like in the town of Grand Rapids, I just ran the report this
morning, over 40% of their registered voters have voted already absentee.
Wow, wow, wow, that's just a lot of people coming through the doors.
So those people aren't going to be there on election day.
So I'm not anticipating huge long lines on election day because we've had
that in person absentee voting and the male and absentee voting going on
already. And you know what, I want to, we'll get back to the checklists in a
second, but you bring that up. And I think that's a great point to branch off
from that because we hear a lot about in person absentee voting.
And I don't feel like we talk on the positives of it nearly enough.
We have it for a reason when we're able, there's many people out there,
especially an election like this, that well before there were any debates
or anything like that, people had their minds made up.
So if that is the case and you are informed and you are registered,
why not be able to get that vote in before November 5th? Certainly to be
able to, you know, you never know what can come up and I don't have to go down
the rabbit hole of that, right? But also for our election workers, for our
staff, we don't get reminded of this nearly enough, nine, what?
I don't even know that I don't want to say the percentage,
but there is a wild amount of the percentage of people that are working on
election day are volunteers. And we want to get them back to their lives.
We want to be able to get this democracy running and get this process done
right. But we want to be able to, you know, we appreciate their time.
I've got a daughter who is going to be up in point doing this.
She's eight months pregnant and she's still going to be out there doing this.
Oh, bless her. I want to get home at a good time, you know,
and obviously being a little selfish about this, but, but they're all
seriousness. We want our citizens to be able to get home.
We want to be able to get results as fast as possible. All of these things
in person absentee,
validating is one of the one of the major positives to it is that it helps
with this process.
And absolutely, and the same checks and balances that we have an
election day are there during in person absentee voting.
You're still stating your name. You're still stating your address.
And this is all open to the public to watch this whole process.
You want to sit in city hall or ton of green Rapids hall all day and watch
the process. You're more and welcome to. It's very much like a mini
election day. You're showing that photo ID,
staying your name and address,
and then take your ballot instead of putting in a machine.
You're going to put it in an envelope.
You're going to sign it and your witness is going to sign it that you,
that you as you and you're the one that filled out the ballot.
And then those don't get open until election day.
So that's a little bit different in Wisconsin than other areas.
Those absentee votes do not get processed until election day.
They're going to sit in the safe at the clerk's office and then they will
process those between 7 a.m. and 8 a.m. on election day.
So our election workers are still, you know,
it's either on the front half or the back half,
but we still need as many election workers as we have because either
they're dealing with people that are coming in the door on election day
or they're going to be processing those absentee ballots.
It's going to be a busy day.
80 90% turnout is, is well within the realm of, of probability.
It's, it's going to happen.
I would anticipate going over the 90% in Wood County.
We usually do.
That's a great note to everybody,
whether you're an election worker or you're going out there and voting on November 5th.
We've seen in the last couple of elections,
record results of people coming out and voting,
something to keep in mind with that.
Yes.
Getting back to the checklist,
we mentioned red being making sure that you're a registered devote.
You can do that myvotewi.cov.gov.
That is certainly a great resource.
You can find that through the civic media website.
If not through that website in itself,
making sure you're registered.
I would say certainly understanding what is on the ballot.
That is probably one of the next steps to do.
Absolutely.
And my vote is the is the premium website in the nation for finding that
information out.
Literally you put your name and birthday in there or your address.
And you're going to know what's on your ballot.
Understand that this ballot that you're going to be looking at is a two sided ballot.
We have some referendum questions from the state and various local governments
and school districts on there.
So you're going to see a list of candidates on the front side of the ballot,
on the back side, you're going to see those referendum questions.
So be mindful of that.
Your election workers will be telling you about that.
But yeah, being prepared,
being knowing what you're doing, registration.
Again, you can check that on my vote,
but call your municipal clerk or even the county clerk.
We'd be happy to look it up in the system.
And hey, are you registered in Wisconsin rapids?
Nope, your previous address.
Okay, these are the steps you're going to need to take before election day
to make sure you get registered.
Trent, I'm wondering, do you mind if we discuss what is going to be on the ballot
outside of certainly the candidates and everything, the referendums, if you will?
Sure.
The referendums on the backside.
There is a state question on this election ballot.
And I'm not going to get into yes or otherwise.
That's for you guys to decide and do your homework on.
But it has to do with citizens voting in election.
It should only us citizens vote.
That's on the ballot.
A number of school districts are going for revenue limits.
City of Marshfield or Marshall School District is going for a pretty good
size general obligation note to update their schools.
Pitzel School Districts going for some additional funding over their revenue limits.
And then we see a lot.
I mean, I think it was at five.
Oh, city Wisconsin rapids certainly has their ATV ordinance that's coming up.
That's a big one out there.
Whether or not you want the city streets opened up to UTV, ATV traffic.
That's going to be a big draw to we're seeing a lot in the smaller townships.
And this is a method they have to go through of making their clerk and or
treasure positions either elected or appointed in order to make them go
from elected to appointed that has to be a referendum.
And I think I've got six municipalities who are who really struggle and
try to find people to run for public office to do that public service.
They struggle to find people to run.
So the ability to be able to appoint allows them a bigger pool of candidates.
You can go outside the municipality to find those.
But we're seeing a lot of municipalities go in that direction.
And I like I said, five or six referendums this on this ballot alone in those
municipalities.
Thank you for that trend to appreciate the breakdown.
And you can certainly look more into those and find out what's on your ballot
specifically the details more of that at myvote.wi.gov.
There's a great section of, hey, what's on my ballot?
And you can just type in your address and it'll pop right up for you.
I tried it out this morning.
I've done it before and it just couldn't be an easier website to maneuver and
work and find out that information very much.
So yeah, it's a great website has added benefits and features.
You could actually register online.
We're past that date.
Now you have no choice but to register in the clerk's office up until this Friday
or at the polls on election day.
But that myvote throughout the year is a great website to take a look at
anything election related.
We're speaking of the Wood County Clerk Trent minor and Trent kind of wrapping up
the checklist, if you will.
I would say that one of the things that I've heard recommended before is a reminder
about election day.
I think that that sounds a little crazy to you and I like how could you forget?
Okay, of course.
This is a super bowl for some of us and everything.
But when it comes to how crazy and busy life can get and while you can make plans for
November 5th, as my Nana would like to remind everybody, if you want to make God laugh,
make plans, you just never know what's going to happen.
So that of course certainly absentee balloting in person balloting and some of that comes
into play with that.
But also the idea of have a plan in place, maybe have a reminder set up if you will,
maybe have a backup plan as well and maybe it may seem well, it's election day, I'll
be fine.
I'll plenty of time.
It's the polls are open all day and everything.
This is too important to leave up to chance.
This is too important to leave up to just having one plan, just my opinion.
I think it's good to have a plan B, maybe in a plan C on that one.
Absolutely, have a plan, have a plan, but understand there are state statutes that will guide
that plan as well.
In person absentee voting in the city and some of our big municipalities that will end
on Friday, in our smaller areas, if there's appointments that you can make with your town
clerks that don't have regular office hours, that can go up through Sunday.
But understand that after Sunday, Monday nothing happens.
I mean, and that's by design, everybody's getting ready, you know, our people, the
missbook clerks, poll workers, they're getting the polling place set up.
We're getting ready for gold time on Tuesday.
So Monday nothing happens.
So have a plan, but understand there are state statutes and there are guidelines, not guidelines.
There are laws that will dictate when we can do things and when not.
So yeah, like you said, have a plan, understand what the laws are.
And if you have any questions, give your municipal clerk a call or give my office a call.
We'll help you through that.
When it comes to mail-in voting, Trent, when is the cutoff, if you will, for that?
I know there's not, the can't be exact, an exact date with our mail system, but I would
say a ballpark.
Well, you know, the mail system.
So the last day to request a mail-in ballot is Thursday at 5 p.m.
That's the last point that a regular voter can do that.
That's too late.
I'm sorry.
Yeah.
It's not going to make it through the mail system.
So really, if you're out there now and you're thinking about voting absentee, I would highly
recommend the in-person absentee because the mail system, the way it is, and I'm not
faulting the postal service or the employees at all, but it's just not going to make it
back.
It's not going to make it to you.
You're not going to be able to vote it and then get it back to municipal clerk's office
by election day.
So in-person absentee voting is really good.
If you do want to mail to you, you may want to have a plan to return it to the polling
place on election day.
That's certainly an option out there, but understand that it has to be the voter returning
it.
I mean, your husband isn't going to be able to take, you know, the husband is not going
to be able to take the white ballot back or stupid husbands aren't going to be able to
give it to their wife and say, here, take care of this and send that back to them.
No, it does have to be the voter unless there is a reason that they are not able to such
as handicap or something like that.
So just keep those, keep that thought process in mind as you make that, as you make your
plans going forward.
And I want also people to keep in mind a couple of other things.
One Trent touched on this earlier.
If you have questions, if you are uncertain about things, come on down.
Come on down and check this out.
This is a transparent situation.
It couldn't be more transparent.
If you are wondering, well, it's this side or that side.
We got people on all sides of the aisle being a part of this.
Representative Krueh joins us once a month and Scott has been talking a lot about this
process and how encouraged, how much he's actually enjoyed seeing this process and everything
and been blown away by all the workers, all these volunteers and everything that goes
into this.
This is something that you can trust it.
This is something that you can believe in.
Not only do I put my name on that, but others in this community, other leaders in this
community do, and trust your community, believe in your community.
And if you have questions, that's cool.
Come on down, show up.
And to extension of that, if you really want to, if you really have curious, I say be
a part of things.
You know, volunteer.
Absolutely.
I've said that more than one person, you distrust the process that I want to see your
backside in the seat, you know, get in the chair, you know, work this thing.
And then you can see that process inside and out.
So, you know, and we're always looking for poll workers, whether or not you get to work
on a certain election you want to up in the air.
But certainly we're always looking for poll workers.
So yeah, absolutely.
It is, it is completely transparent.
And I'll tell you, when we go through like county clerk training, that county clerks
are a political office, we run under a party.
We run, actually, we're on the ballot, this one, or this, in this election.
But when we get into those trainings, there is no politics.
I mean, we're there to learn and understand and learn from each other.
I know every county clerk in the state, I know all 72 of them now, because of the position
I'm in as president of the association.
But they are principled people.
They want to do what's right.
We're looking for the laws to, you know, we're looking at the laws to understand those
and to make sure that this process runs as smoothly and transparently as possible.
So I trust every one of the county clerks, I trust every county in the state
that we're going to pull off an outstanding election.
And it's going to be close.
There's no question it's going to be close.
My concern now is, how close is it going to be?
And am I going to be eating turkey in the courthouse on Thanksgiving?
Because we might be in the middle of a recount.
So, you know, that's, that's a consideration post election.
We'll make sure that you got plenty of size at that time.
Because you and everybody over there.
Trent, as we're wrapping up, you touched on this.
You mentioned a little bit.
If people would like to be a part of volunteer, help out in any way they can.
We're still looking for all hands on deck.
How can people find out and be a part of things?
Through their municipal clerk.
And if you don't know who that is, give my office a call at 715-421-8460.
And my staff and myself will make sure you understand
know who your municipal clerk is.
But even if you can't work it, observe it.
If there's a question, we have observer stations set up at every municipal
or every polling place in the county in the state.
So come and just witness that process.
Be kind, be nice, don't be disruptive.
But get your questions answered.
And as they have time, everybody out there is more than happy to talk elections
with you and discuss the process.
And you teed me up perfectly.
Because that's where I wanted to wrap up and beating kind to each other.
To your fellow citizens, when you're standing in line or you're waiting to go
vote to the workers, the poll workers, and to different people that are there
treating them with respect and everything.
And treating the process with some respect.
Don't let it be lost on any one of us.
How lucky and how fortunate we are to live in this country, to live in a democracy,
to have options, to have being able to choose between these things,
being able to do these things willingly.
For one, we are not forced to vote.
Our vote counts.
We're able to vote.
There are so many things that around the world, you don't have to look very far around
the world.
They don't have a lot of this stuff.
We're able to do this and we're able to do it because we do this together.
We are stronger and better together.
Treat each other with respect.
We have this happen all the time.
You walk past somebody and they've got an opposite sports team, Jersey on or something
like that.
You don't get, you just keep walking.
You just keep walking.
That's all you got to do in this situation.
Just keep killing with kindness.
Treat each other with respect.
Kill each other with kindness in that way.
Go field.
You see the opposing team will come and what respect that the Green Bay Packer fans will
show those people is something that the other side comments on all the time.
You see they have the news media all the time, wonderful the Green Bay Packer fans are.
Again, it's a great country where we can disagree but not be disagreeable about it.
That's what makes this nation great.
We've got the whole world watching us and waiting to see how this happens and so many
of them are sitting back in their popcorn waiting for an explosion or something like that.
Let's show them what we really are made of.
Let's show them how well we can pull off a democracy and be what this is all about.
Be a light to the rest of the world and that democracy can work in other parts of the
country and other parts of the world that it may not have it.
Be good to each other out there and let's have a good election.
I'm looking forward to it.
Do you hear about the security concerns and I try not to listen to the news because
I need to deal with just what I'm dealing with.
That's just something I'm expecting here in Wood County.
We really have, we're blessed here in this area that our poll workers and our municipal
clerks are all on, we just want a good election, a good clean transparent election.
That's all we're after regardless of what side you're on.
You can find out more at myvote.wi.gov, myvote.wi.gov, and again, if you're on the civic
media website, you can get a find a link right there to it.
Trent, if people don't have follow-up questions or want to volunteer no more, how can they
reach you in your staff?
Yeah, give me a call at our office at 715-421-8460 and we will get you all the information that
we can get you.
Okay, not thank you enough for the time and certainly Trent, on a personal of a always
love talk with you, appreciate that brain of yours and all the work you put into this
community.
Thank you for that.
Thank you.
Appreciate it.
You and your staff, I hope you guys, wish you guys a good, November 5th, a good election.
Thank you.
We'll have more midday magazine for you right here at 975 FM 1320 AM, WFHR, locally grown
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