April 8, 2020 – West Bend, WI – Under typical circumstances, administering an election is a major undertaking for any municipal clerk’s office. This year has presented a new set of challenges.
City of West Bend Clerk Stephanie Justmann and her team have gone above and beyond to ensure every voter has the ability to vote safely from home, in-person absentee at City Hall, or at the polls on Election Day.
Justmann and her team have done an extraordinary job handling all of the additional emails, calls and in-person visits.
They have processed more than 8,000 absentee ballots—as of noon on April 3,more than 45% of all registered voters in West Bend have already received their ballot. The Clerk’s Office has kept up with the unprecedentedly high demand of online requests for absentee ballots, mailing each within 24 hours of a completed application.
Making public health a top priority, the team quickly identified and relocated two polling places that were originally planned at senior care facilities.
The Clerk crew and City Hall staff have alsoimplemented numerous additional safety measures at the polling places, including a hand wash station outside of City Hall, wayfinding and health-safety signage, a city-staffed information desk, properly marked waiting spaces to practice social distancing, and increased sanitization throughout the facilities.
Poll workers have access to personal protective equipment, hand sanitizer, disinfectant wipes, and soap and water. Voting pens are sanitizedafter every use. The list of newly-implemented precautionary measures continues on. It’s our goal to protect every voter while they practice their civic right.
I’m proud of this team for stepping up to support the election. My sincerest gratitude goes to Stephanie Justmann, Angelica Rettler and Megan Gundrum. Several other staff members from additionaldepartments and volunteers have also contributed their time and I am thankful for their service. It has been a truly innovative and collaborative process, and we’re prepared to safely and efficiently welcome in-person voters on April 7.
United States District Court Judge William Conley referred to municipal workers as “heroes to this story” as they have continually had to “improvise election practices.” I could not agree more. Congrats to the team as we near Election Day. Thank you for a job well done!
Jay Shambeau
City of West Bend Administrator