On Nov. 3, 2020, the general election will take place in the City of Platteville. Due to COVID-19, the city encourages its voters to vote absentee. For the residents who wish to vote in person, there are currently two announced voting places. The first is Velzy Commons inside Ullsvik Hall, which is in the Northeast corner of campus on the corner of N. Hickory Street and Main Street. The second place to vote in person for Platteville Districts 1, 2 and 4 is in the Broske Center, located on 1155 N. Second Street in Legion Park. According to the City of Platteville website, the polling place for District 3 has yet to be announced.
However, the most important question to be asked is: who is on the ballot?
Under the President and Vice President section of the ballot are: Joseph Biden and Kamala Harris for the Democratic Party, Donald Trump and Mike Pence for the Republican Party, Don Blankenship and William Mohr for the Constitution Party, Jo Jorgensen and Jeremy “Spike” Cohen of the Libertarian Party and Brian Carroll and Amar Patel of the American Solidarity Party. For the Congressional seat and the Representative in Congress of District 3 there are two contenders: Ron Kind of the Democratic Party and Derrick Van Orden of the Republican Party. Both sections of the ballot allow for write-in votes.
The next two sections of the ballot are closer to home as they cover Legislative, State and County Elections. Under Representative to the Assembly District 49, Shaun Murphy-Lopez (Democratic) and Travis Tranel (Republican) are the two main options besides the write-in vote. However, this is the last seat to have opposition. The next three seats have no incumbents. District Attorney has only Lisa A. Riniker (Republican) listed as an option other than the write-in vote. County Clerk has Tonya White (Republican), County Treasurer has Carrie Eastlick (Republican) and Register of Deeds has Andrea Noethe (Republican) as the only fill-in votes.Many seats are without opposition as the 2020 election has gained a great amount of attention the past couple of months.
With the pandemic causing many people to vote absentee, websites like myvote.wi.gov allow voters to make sense of how and where to vote during this confusing time. With a simple search of your name and address on this site you can find your polling place. If you want to see if you are registered or need to register, there is a simple form to fill out. Websites such as myvote.wi.gov change the way residents of Wisconsin can register to vote and allow them to find out more about their ballot. In the future, finding out where and when to vote are one search away.
The polls for in person voting open on Nov. 3, 2020 at 7 am and run untill 8 pm at both Ullsvik Hall and Broske Center.
Go out there and make your vote count!