Welcome everybody to Midday Magazine.
For this Monday, March 31st, 2025,
have your host, James J. Mailov here.
In part two today at 430,
we're going to talk to Wisconsin Ravits Raptors
Assistant GM Jake Adams.
We're talking baseball in a little bit.
Right now, we're talking democracy
with our good friend Trent Minor.
Wood County Clerk, Trent, always good to see you.
How you been?
Great, thank you.
Thanks for having me, I appreciate it.
I write out the gate, I have to thank you.
Everybody, all this staff, all the people you work with,
Trent, and the things that you guys do
on a daily basis let alone this time of year
and how things can be.
I greatly appreciate what you guys do, back what you guys do,
support you very much, and always appreciate
you coming in handling my silly questions
and some of this.
Trent, one of the things that I like to do
is be able to put people in your shoes
and your staff's shoes.
Can you tell us what a day in life is like this week
or built leading into tomorrow in an election day?
Sure, actually, we're kind of closing in on it.
Tomorrow, of course, is the big day,
but we've been at this now since December,
preparing for this election,
working with the different municipal clerks
and getting their candidates certified
and onto the ballot,
getting through that spring primary,
getting that certified so that we had candidates
for this race.
So tomorrow kind of brings it all to a head.
Today, we're kind of fielding questions
from our municipal clerks,
our municipal clerks are busy and all get out,
getting those polling locations set up,
ready to go for a nice smooth election day tomorrow
and it looks like the weather's gonna hold for us.
It's not supposed to snow into late tomorrow night,
so I think we're off for a good election day tomorrow.
One thing that I appreciate about our fellow Midwesterners
is how, however the weather is,
we treat it like the post office rain,
sleet snow, we're getting out there, we're voting.
It is nice and by the nature to give us a little bit of break.
We've got two bad days of weather,
the one nice day is election day.
And we'll take that.
Yes, absolutely take that.
But it's been a little bit different this time
is the amount of in-person absentee voting
that we've seen the two weeks prior to the election day.
It's been busy to put it mildly.
It actually reminds me almost of a presidential.
At this point, I'm not sure what to tell you,
what for turnout, whether or not all these people
that voted in person are not gonna come to the polls tomorrow,
of course, they've already voted.
But does that take away from the voter tomorrow
or is that going to be in addition to?
So it'll be a very interesting to see how tomorrow
all lays out for us, because really right now
that in-person absentee is really being embraced
by no matter what side of the aisle you are politically,
that is being embraced with both arms.
So we've seen a big turnout in that in-person absentee voting.
So it'll be interesting to see how it all plays out tomorrow.
It feels like almost any walk of life
where we're talking about your work life or sports
or any of these things, more and more people
are looking for that.
So I guess it shouldn't be surprising,
but it was a little to me to hear that.
That's interesting.
Yeah, it does surprise me.
It used to be, boy, you gotta be there on election day.
And the absentee voting process is really being embraced
and there's nothing wrong with that.
Absolutely.
Anyway, we can get them to vote.
We're all in on that.
There are security procedures in place for that to happen.
Wisconsin has good laws out there.
So we're looking forward to seeing how that all plays out tomorrow.
Speaking of tomorrow, so what's a day in the life
like tomorrow for you guys?
Early and then very late.
Well, my staff and I will be in the office very early
tomorrow morning, feeling those questions
from your miserable clerks and from our poll workers.
If anything comes up, and then we will be there all night.
So every election return is back in their office.
So every municipality, all 34 of them will be reporting to me.
I'll be talking them throughout the day.
And then for sure, at the end of the night,
making sure we have those results on our website
and make sure everybody can see what's
happening throughout the county.
So I'll probably be in the office by 4.30 tomorrow in the morning.
And then hopefully we'll be out of there by 10, 10, 30.
But it wouldn't surprise me if it'll be later than that.
Appreciate you appreciate the staff and everybody
that does this and does this work year in and year out.
We appreciate it so very much and trust it so much
and are thankful for it.
What are some of the key challenges for you and your staff
when it comes to these things?
Sure, when it comes to election, especially
for the county clerk staff, because we're
in charge of developing those ballots
and making sure that everybody has enough ballots,
it's getting that crystal ball out and trying
to figure what is going to be the percentage turnout.
Could I order 100% of every registered voter every time
for every election?
Well, sure, but that seems like a big waste of money.
In the February primary, we had about 11% turnout total.
Well, ordering 100% turnout kind of a waste.
So I tried to temper that a little bit and say, OK,
what's going to be our turnout?
And boy, I wish I knew.
I'm kind of expecting we're going to be in the 50s to high 50s,
if I were to guess.
I got a little nervous last week, so I ordered
some more ballots for some of our bigger municipalities,
just because of that in-person absentee
that has been just very popular.
Not knowing whether that's going to mean a slowdown
in election day people, or if that's
going to mean in addition to them.
So that's really the biggest challenge that my office sees.
And then, fielding lots of questions.
A lot of our municipal clerks are just part-time clerks.
They have full-time jobs outside of their public service
duties.
Not used to dealing with stuff day in, day out like we are.
So we feel a lot of questions, day, night, weekend,
making sure that everybody has the information they need
to ensure that we have a good election going forward.
Something that you and I in the years that you and I
have been doing this have touched on quite a bit.
And maybe, I would say just as much as ever,
but maybe more recently than recent elections and others,
it's transparency and the accountability
in some of those things.
We've addressed this so much that I feel like I could just
pull up one of our last interviews.
So you have to talk about this.
But I know how important it is to you and your staff.
How is that process going?
It goes very smoothly, to be honest with you.
We get those election results in on the election night.
My staff and I are looking at those results.
Is there anything odd out there?
Is one candidate getting all the votes
and another candidate getting nothing?
OK, there are things that we watch for.
Nothing is ever nefarious, has ever happened.
But we still watch for it, just in case something goofy happens.
But then we go through the process of certifying the election.
So on Thursday, in my office, we'll
be canvassing all the results that come in from the municipalities
on election night, making sure they're accurate,
looking at any issues that came up at our polling places
throughout the day.
So it's all, again, all transparent.
It's a public meeting.
It's been noticed in the paper on the website.
So all this stuff is transparent.
Every step of this process is a very transparent.
Like you and I have talked before, when it comes to testing
the machines that we use, that is all in public forum
in an open meeting that has been noticed.
Everything that we do is geared towards that transparency.
So we continue to improve on those processes each time.
We learn something each time.
And we try to do better.
And I think we have a really good running system
in our county right now.
A couple of weeks back, I reached out to my old stomping
grounds in Chicago talking to some of the clerks in that area.
I was curious of a big city approach to this,
but I also, given the history of Chicago in politics,
we all understand that and know that and everything.
I was curious where it was for them on that level.
And it's interesting to me how, especially in that,
in particular, the city of Chicago,
I'm not talking about all of Illinois politics,
but in Chicago, because of the history there,
they've gone so far the other direction
of wanting to make sure that everything is legit.
Everybody understands every little single detail.
And on a major city level,
we're talking about the third biggest city in our country.
And on that level, making sure that all of those individuals
understand everything.
And hey, everything's above and above this ain't 1920 Chicago.
This ain't, you know, some of that and fighting against that.
And in some ways, that past history has really helped
the modern voter, the modern person out there.
I'm not only being able to trust their voters
is counted in all these things,
but understand the process a little bit more.
One thing they didn't intend to do,
but they've actually been able to create some empathy
with this and some understanding of people
like yourself and the people doing these jobs.
I'm truly blessed to be the county clerk in Wood County
because our citizens do understand that, you know,
the municipal clerks, my office, we're there.
We have nothing to hide.
Any questions that come up, you know,
my cell phone is out there to the public for everybody to use.
So yeah, we've seen that, but we've seen a big switch
in how elections are administered
and even the laws that administer those elections
since really 2000.
The Florida 2000 hanging sheds, a lot of laws were put
into place after that to correct some of those historical issues
that came up.
So keeping up on that, it's just a lot different
than when I started working elections, you know,
30 some years ago already.
So I think we've gotten better at it.
And again, each election gets us just a little bit better
and a little bit smoother and a little bit more transparent
and getting that out there.
We are speaking with Trent Minor Wood County clerk
and getting ready for election day
with an election update.
And Trent, I was curious of a couple of other things
as we go along here.
Is there anything new from the last election
that people need to know as far as being prepared,
making sure that that checklist is all ready to go for tomorrow?
Now, just making sure, you know, nothing has changed
in their state statute wise as far as what is needed
at the polling place, you'll make sure you have that photo ID
there, state your name and address.
Again, everything is above board open.
So really not much has changed from the November election
from the spring primary.
We're kind of going with status quo right now.
But certainly patients, we always, you know,
it's try to instill, you know, just be patient.
There may be lines tomorrow.
I don't know.
If there are, be patient with the poll workers.
They're doing the best they can.
So, but as far as what is needed,
myvote.wi.gov gives you an outstanding,
that's a great website to look up.
And you can review your, what's on the ballot for tomorrow
in your location.
You can review where your polling location is.
All that is available on that website.
So I would encourage everybody to take a look at that as well.
Is there anything consistent that you get asked
this time of year as far as things that people wonder
or want to know?
Are there any headline questions?
I'm looking at the same website you just mentioned there,
myvote.wi.
I do see some things here that are kind of your normal questions
that we've touched on before and everything.
But is there a consistent one as far as like what's on the ballot
or tracking the ballot or some of those things?
I think the biggest question we get is what is on my ballot?
And where do I vote?
Especially in municipalities there,
and I can't say that.
For Wood County, we're talking Wisconsin Rapids
and Marshall are my large municipalities.
In Chicago, in Chicago wrote, yeah, they're not so big.
But they are big in Wood County.
So where they vote in relationship to those cities,
we certainly get a lot of questions in our office on that.
And again, myvote is actually where we go.
If we get calls in our office about that,
we had to myvote, punch in their address,
and we can tell them exactly where they need to vote.
So that's kind of a common recurring question
that we get in our office a lot.
We do get some questions on referendum questions
and our feelings on that.
Again, myvote doesn't give out our opinion
on those types of things,
but we can certainly get you some information
that is put out there from the state of Wisconsin
on the effects of a yes or no questions.
So we are more than happy to get that information out there.
And I know, especially in this day and age,
but really, it's always been this way
that we make our vote and immediately want to know who won.
And it's just not how it works.
So as far as like looking for a window,
when to look for results or those kind of things,
there's just no way to know right now
with so many factors not understood
as you've heard from Trent throughout this interview.
There's so many factors to really know when
to start looking for results or anything.
And I don't mean in like the 24 hours after the vote.
I mean, even the next week,
it's gonna be one of those things
and we're gonna have to wait and see.
Sure, absolutely.
And I anticipate these, you know,
the top of the ticket race is the state Supreme Court
and the state public instruction,
the superintendent of a construction.
Those are gonna be close races, very close races.
Would I anticipate a recount?
Wouldn't surprise me to be honest,
you know, I think they're gonna be really, really close.
And we may not know for a while
on who the exact winner is.
We're gonna have a pretty good idea.
I would say probably normal for state of Wisconsin
is gonna be about three, four in the morning.
We're gonna get all those absentee's counted Milwaukee.
For Wood County, I would anticipate
we're gonna have our results up,
probably by, if I were to guess, if everything goes well,
by 10, you know, we should have our results up on the website.
So people know how Wood County voted.
And especially in a lot of those municipalities
where we have contested races for local,
for the local races, you know,
we have some contests in the village of Port Edward,
the city of Rapids.
So we'll have those races up and ready to go.
Hopefully by 10 or so,
we'll ever get those results from the municipalities.
And as far as what's on the ballot,
that's a question that comes up quite a bit as you said there.
And we know that there are races going on,
are there any questions on the ballot this year?
There is, there is one statewide question
having to do with photo ID
and whether to make that a constitutional amendment
instead of just a state statute.
So that will be on your ballot.
We have some school districts in the area
that have some bonding and exceeding revenue questions,
Auburndale and the Kusa come to mind.
City of Marshall has a question
about hiring some firefighters.
So we have those questions out there.
Well, and then again, your local,
your local policy makers are up for election.
So we see a lot of town chairmen's and supervisors
and city elders.
All those are up for election this year.
So a very active election year.
Trent, as we're going along here,
we've got about four or five minutes left.
I want to think that I wanted to ask
if we had the time was the future of this position.
And what that, what you see might happen with it
or anything happen with it.
I ask this in part because I grew up in a very political family
and one of the first things my grandfather taught me
or phrases I remember him using very often
was who watches the watchman
and how important it is to have people
keeping an eye in this person, keeping an eye in this person
and literally every position in government
and in process going from the top to the bottom.
So I feel that there's a very important place for this role.
But how it evolves or just stays the same is curious to me.
It has evolved.
And I'll say it has evolved since I've taken office in 2017, 2018.
It has evolved.
Certainly election administration is the top.
I have a multitude of other duties
besides the election administration.
We talk about election administration,
but my service to the county board
and all the file keeping and record keeping
that we take care within our office is big.
And we're a constitutional office.
And when you're in my office is dictated
both in the Wisconsin Constitution and in state statutes.
I answer to the electorate.
I don't answer to the county board.
So there's some freedom in that.
And there's also, you know,
there's a lot of people that watch over me.
It's not just the 19 members of the county board.
It's, you know, it's the 74,000 residents of Wood County.
How does he positionally evolve?
I think it's going to be more geared
towards election administration.
It's going to be in that training of our municipal clerks,
the training of our poll workers to ensure
that they're doing the best job that they can,
that they understand the laws and the rules.
I think it's getting more technical in nature.
We used to send out to do all of our own coding,
you know, to a company that we contract with.
That's all coming in-house now.
So it's getting more technical in nature.
So the old adage that, oh, if you're elected official,
you don't have to come to work.
Mm, not, not, doesn't hold true
in the county clerk's office so well
because it is getting a lot more technical and, you know,
a lot more technical in nature.
Yeah, well, thank you.
Great answer.
Thank you for that.
I appreciate it, Trent.
As we're wrapping up here, is there anything you want
to make sure that our listeners know, understand,
before they get ready to go ahead
and help democracy ring tomorrow?
Absolutely, be patient.
Make sure you have your photo ID with you.
But again, understand that the poll workers are doing
the best job they know how to make sure
that everybody gets in and gets out just as fast
and as efficiently as possible.
But that's sometimes there are delays.
So just hang in there.
We're going to make sure that everybody
that wants to vote is going to be able to vote that day
and we'll take her from there.
We're looking forward to seeing what the results come up
and I'm anxious to see what the turnout's going to be.
I'd like to piggyback on what you were saying there.
I mentioned this a lot at the time.
You don't like the gas prices.
You don't mess, you don't yell at the clerk.
The clerk is not the one making the gas prices.
They're just doing their job.
Our election workers are volunteers.
Our volunteers.
They're there to try to help democracy keep moving here
and help this machine keep on pace and everything.
Be patient, be kind, treat them
as you want to be treated yourself
and understand that we're all on the same page here.
Whether we may vote for different people
or what have you, we all want this system to keep running
and keep running smoothly.
We all want a trusted system
and one we can believe in and take pride in.
And take pride in our community.
We're all on the same page and remembering that.
We all make this thing work.
We are neighbors, we are friends, we are family,
we are a community.
And regardless of who we vote for,
we are all on the same page on this front and showing that.
You know what?
And if you get a chance throwing a thank you in there
to our election workers and volunteers,
it doesn't hurt.
They would certainly appreciate that.
I've said 100 times, but if you're talking to these election
workers and you're getting frustrated,
if you wouldn't say it to your mama,
probably don't say it to the election worker.
Just take a breath and understand that this is the process
and it used to be much, much longer and much worse.
We've gotten more efficient as time has gone on.
So be kind, but certainly get out and vote
and we're looking forward to it.
And again, a big thank you to Mother Nature
for working with us tomorrow.
That'll be great.
Hopefully it'll help the mood out there and everything too.
Trent, if people do have follow up questions,
would like to know more from you?
How can they reach you?
Sure.
You certainly call my office at 715-421-8460.
Reach out to me via email.
My email address is out on the website
on the woodconey.
woodconey-wi.gov website.
And the election results will also be on that website as well,
starting hopefully a little after eight tomorrow.
Is that the site you would recommend for those results
is woodconey website?
Absolutely.
I have to post those there by state statute, actually.
So yeah, take a look.
And on the left hand side of our homepage,
you'll see woodconey election results.
Click on that and boom, you'll see every election result
in the county.
Woodconey.wi.gov is where you can find that everybody.
And of course, keep in mind as well,
you can find other information at our city's website,
wirapids.org also has a lot of information for you.
But the website you should have bookmarked
and ready to go whenever you need it,
myvote.wi.gov, myvote.wi.gov, do yourself a favor.
Go ahead and just double check and make sure
that you're registered.
You just never know.
I know one year I thought I was good to go
and I just happened to check.
I think it was the first year we were talking
and doing this and to double check and everything.
Oh, it had my old residents and all this.
And so thankfully within 24 hours of spare,
I got it all checked and ready to go.
But we want you to be able to do that.
We want you ready to go ahead and enjoy tomorrow.
I don't think we mentioned this nearly enough.
Either Trent, we're fortunate.
We get to do this.
Not every country, not every area gets to do something
like this.
Enjoy tomorrow.
Be good to each other tomorrow.
And let's help democracy ring.
And hopefully we get to talk to Trent sooner
than the next election.
It's a shame we only get to talk about that stuff a year.
You bet.
Thanks a lot, Trent.
Appreciate you.
Thank you.
We'll be back more midday magazine coming up right here
at 97.5 FM 13.20 AM WFHR.
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