MADISON (WKOW) -- After Tuesday's monthly meeting of the Wisconsin Government Accountability Board, it became clear that a lot of people could miss their opportunity to vote in the June 5th recall election if they haven't paid attention to some recent changes in the law.
College students could be most affected.
"You shouldn't be walking into the address at your parents polling place and expect to vote if you haven't met the 28 day residency requirement," explained GAB Director Kevin Kennedy. "But it doesn't mean you don't get to vote, it means you have to go back to where you were living before."
That 28 day residency requirement was in place for the May 8th primary, but with classes now over, it takes on more importance.
For example, if a UW student goes back to Rhinelander for the summer, they must either come back to Madison to vote, or obtain and mail back an absentee ballot.
Meanwhile, other voters may not even be able to vote absentee.
"Its a challenge and it affects a small number of voters, but its a very motivated group," said Kennedy.
That group is comprised of voters who will be temporarily overseas for the election.
Another change to state law says only military personnel or voters with permanent overseas addresses can obtain a ballot by email or fax.
Clerks must now physically mail ballots to temporary overseas voters, but at what address?
"In some situations, the temporarily overseas voter is not going to be in a said location for an extended amount of time," GAB Elections Supervisor Ross Hein explained to the board.
That prospect is made even more difficult by the fact that the mailing of those ballots is running about three days behind, because the GAB still hasn't received thousands of absentee ballots from the primary.
"Absentee ballots should be mailed out by state law today, that will be impossible to do so, again, because we still have more than 20 counties who have yet to get their results to us," said Hein.
