Madison Reporter

The City of Madison has outlined a comprehensive system of checks and balances to ensure the integrity of its election processes. Observers, identifiable by their Election Observer badges, are present at polling places, absentee voting sites, and ballot drop boxes to maintain transparency.

The City Clerk’s Office is responsible for managing voter registration records. This includes routine checks for duplicate records and cross-referencing with death and felon records to ensure accuracy.

Absentee voting requires prior registration, and most requests must include a voter ID unless already on file with the Clerk’s Office. Absentee ballots remain sealed until counted on Election Day, where they are verified against poll books.

Transportation of absentee ballots involves strict security measures. A sworn election official secures ballots in tamper-evident bags with unique serial numbers, documented on a chain of custody form verified by couriers and officials.

Poll workers issue sequentially numbered voter slips as voters check in. The Chief Inspector at each polling place reconciles these numbers with the public count from tabulators hourly. Any discrepancies must be resolved before results are finalized.

Both major political parties have appointed poll workers in Madison, though most workers are non-partisan. All poll workers undergo training before elections and rotate tasks throughout the day to understand all procedures.

Madison employs a paper-based voting system that provides a verifiable paper trail. Duplicate records of votes are maintained, and results tapes are printed in duplicate for both city and county clerks. Ballots are sealed with tamper-evident seals, and serial numbers are documented.

Post-election reconciliation involves scanning barcodes for each voter in the poll book alongside processing Election Day registrations to ensure that the number of voters matches the number of ballots counted.