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Upcoming Elections and Voter Information

Spring Elections 2012

Primary Election February 21, 2012

In Dodgeville four people are running for the at-large seat on the Dodgeville School Board. You get to vote for one person and the primary election will reduce the number to two. The contestants are:

Missy Hottman – former school board president – wants to ensure that children receive the best education possible and is concerned about the state impact on finances, curriculum and staffing. Votes: 241 (52%)
David Gollon – fish farmer - wants to provide quality education without creating too much of a financial burden on property taxes. Votes: 150 (32%)
John A Gardner II – Iowa County Highway Department – believes the most pressing issues are budget constraints, retaining/recruiting quality staff and overcrowding. Votes: 49 (10%)
Donald Kreul – current board member - feels a major issue is “making our schools a safe place so no child gets hurt getting to and from school”. Votes: 30 (6%)

For more information on the candidates, click here to see what the Dodgeville Chronicle published on each of them. See full election resutls here.

General Spring Election is April 3, 2012

Mineral Point: A school referendum will seek to maintain existing programs, facilities and equipment. Learn more at the school’s website. Three positions in the Mineral Point school board will be voted on. Learn more at the School's website.

Dodgeville: Two candidates are running for mayor. All four city council seats are up for election. Two Dodgeville school board seats are being contested (the at-large seat and the seat currently held by J. Patrick Reilly).

Iowa County Board: The entire 21 member board is up for election with two seats being contested (Dan Curran and Bill Grover).

Read more about the local elections in The Dodgeville Chronicle, click here.

Voter Photo Id is now law in Wisconsin
See the new Government Accountability Board Website for more info.

NEW IN SPRING GREEN: THE CONCERNED CITIZENS OF RIVER VALLEY are working on Voter ID and registration and exploring other vital issues of interest in the River Valley area. To learn more, contact Susan Gereau, sjgereau@hughes.net, (608)583-2121. Watch for their FACEBOOK page coming soon.

Voter Photo Id is now law in Wisconsin

What does it mean to you? The Wisconsin Government Accountability Board (GAB) is a great resource for reliable information, here is the quick summary:

1. If you have a valid/unexpired Wisconsin Drivers License (it does not need to have your current address on it), a US passport, a US Uniform Service ID card, Certificate of U.S. Naturalization card or a University/College Student ID card (Tech college cards do not apply) you do NOT need to get another photo ID card to vote. You must bring your picture/photo ID to the polls with you to vote but again you DO NOT need to get another form of photo ID.
2. If you do NOT have any of the above forms of identification then you will need to go to a DMV Service Center & ask for a FREE photo ID card to be used for Voting Purposes. However, if you already have one of the above forms you will have to purchase the photo ID card. It is only given for FREE for voting purposes if you have no other source of photo ID.
3. The New motto for the 2012 elections is:

STATE IT: State your name and Address to your poll worker
SHOW IT: Show your acceptable form of photo ID
SIGN IT: Sign the poll book. This is something new but your signature will be required before a ballot will be issued to you

Note: The Dodgeville DMV Service Center, which is where you can get your Voter Photo ID, is now located in the Springate Mall (316 W. Spring Street, Dodgeville, WI 53533) and has the new hours of 7 a.m.-5 p.m. - Tuesday and Thursday.

Where to Vote
If you do not know where to vote, you can check out the State of Wisconsin Government Accountability Board website to find out. Simply put in your address on the Voter Public Access page and find out where your local polling place is located by clicking on the street name that has your address in its range. Then if you click on the words “View Sample Ballot” you can see what your ballot will look like if your local Clerk has placed it there.

Have you seen the Redistricting Plans?
The 51st Assembly District picture will be changing, most notably it loses Prairie du Sac/Sauk City, Arena, Barneveld, Ridgeway, Brigham, Honey Creek and Troy and gains the Monroe area. Iowa County will go from 2 to 4 Assembly Districts representing our area, the 49th, 51st as in the past and now the 80th and 81st too. Check out the State of Wisconsin Legislative site to see the new maps and plans for redistricting in our state, click here.

The Iowa County Board has also redrawn the lines. The next election for those seats will be April 2012. Here is the new Iowa County Board Members district map. If you are interested in running for office, see the resources below for how to get on the ballot.

Learn More about the Candidates
A good resource for learning more about the candidates running on a statewide basis is Wisconsin Vote a service of Wisconsin Public Television and Wisconsin Public Radio.

The League of Women Voters of Wisconsin (LWV) is another resource that has information about the candidates. Here is a link to their website.

Interested in running for Office Yourself?
The Wisconsin Government Accountability Board (GAB) has information about what it takes to get your name on the ballot. Click here to go to their site and learn more.

The League of Women Voters of Wisconsin (LWV) is another resource you can go turn to for infomation about what it takes to run for an office. Here is a link to their website.

Non-Partisan Elections: Declaration of Candidacy, Campaign Registration Statement and Nomination papers are due by January 3, 2012; Spring Primary Election (if needed) February 21, 2012; Spring Election April 3, 2012.
Partisan Elections: Is being decided in SB-116, if passed the timeline will be moved up by one both to Declaration of Candidacy, Campaign Registration Statement and Nomination papers are due by June 12, 2012 (not July); Primary Election (if needed) August 14, 2012 (not Sept); General Election November 6, 2012.

LOOKING FOR THE TRUTH about controversial political topics or political ads?
Check out FactCheck.org it is a nonpartisan fact-checking website provides invaluable information about a number of topics. POLITIFACT WISCONSIN is another great fact source, it is another nonpartisan website that focuses on truth-telling in Wisconsin politics. Channel3000's Reality Check is covering what is true on a more local level.