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A new book is being incorporated into how elections are prepared, implemented, and accounted for in the City of Sheboygan. The “Book” isn’t a conventional book at all, but a new electronic tool developed by the Wisconsin Elections Commission. With 8 years now in practice elsewhere in the state, Sheboygan has now chosen to put the Badger Book to use beginning with the February 18th Primary.
According to City Clerk Meredith DeBruin, prior to election day, municipal clerks will securely load voter information into the Badger Book system so that come election day, checking in voters, processing absentee ballots and facilitating same-day voter registrations should go smoother than before.
After the election, participating data is uploaded into WisVote, the state’s secure voter registration system. In order to ensure that security, Badger Books are never connected to the internet, but rather an encrypted USB drive stores the data with password-protected access only available to credentialed individuals.
Clerk DeBruin said that participation isn’t mandatory, but is up to each municipality. Sheboygan chose Badger Books, she said, as a step forward in modernizing election administration while maintaining public trust.
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