This upcoming spring election will be a little more “digitalized” for voters in the City of Fennimore, as the city will be using Badger Books at the polls.

What exactly is a Badger Book? Basically, Badger Books are an electronic version of the “big paper poll book.” A Badger Book works the same as the paper poll books but with some added features. They are used to check in voters, process Election Day registrations, and record absentee ballot participation.

The goal in mind with Badger Books is to ensure consistency, efficiency, make end of election day activities easier and more accurate, and make Election Day even more convenient for the community. 

Badger Book software was developed by the Wisconsin Elections Commission in 2017, and were custom made for Wisconsin election as it is the only electronic poll book software created to integrate with Wisconsin’s statewide voter registration system.

Badger Books are not connected to the internet or to any other outside source. They are connected via a secure router that is used solely to link the Badger Books at the polling location, and no personal data is stored on the books. Voter data is encrypted and therefore, more secure than the previous paper poll book.

Badger Books work together to continually update the list of voters who have checked-in and to assign sequential voter numbers.

As of 2024, nearly 1/3 of registered voters in the state utilize Badger Books on Election Day. Area communities such as Boscobel, Lancaster, and Platteville have also made the switch over to Badger Books in recent years. 

Badger Books coming to Fennimore elections have been in the works for a while, according to City of Fennimore City Clerk Ashley Edge.

“The City purchased the Badger Books a couple years ago, but needed to go through the required training prior to implementing. We are very excited to begin using them, and have had a couple training already with our election inspector,” Edge explained.

Edge also touted Badgers Books efficiency and overall “time saving” feature. “The biggest perks to utilizing Badger Books is to improve both efficiency and time management during, and after elections. Currently, after polls close, office staff are often working late, sometimes until 11 p.m. preparing materials for the county and manually entering voter participation data into WisVote,” Edge explained.

“Badger Books will streamline these procedures by communicating directly with WisVote, the state-wide database, significantly reducing manual data entry and end-of-night reporting time. This integration allows information to transfer more quickly and accurately, helping the entire process run more efficiently. Additionally, Badger Books provide built-in guidance for election inspectors, including prompts regarding acceptable photo identification. The system allows most voter processing tasks to be completed within the same device, minimizing the need to send voters to multiple stations and creating a smoother experience for both voters and election officials.”

On April 7, voters won’t have to do anything different or prepare for any extra steps as the voting process will not change.

“The only thing that is changing is the poll book previously was paper in a binder, and now it is in electronic format. Voters will still have a paper ballot to fill out, and will insert the ballot in the same machine they previously have,” Edge went on to say.

One process that will change will be standing in lines based on names, as the lines to stand in by last name are now “a thing of the past” according to Edge.

But with anything new, there will be learning curves and adaptation to a new voting process. “I would just like to ask of the public to have patience. I do expect this to be a smooth transition, however, utilizing something new can come with some unforeseen obstacles.  Our election inspectors are phenomenal, but this will be a learning opportunity when they use them live,” Edge stated.

Any other questions about what to expect this upcoming election, please contact the city office.