County clerk reports records digitization and push to increase WisVote training for town clerks

Sawyer County Clerk Miss Klein updated the administration committee on a push to digitize county records and to increase local town clerks' proficiency with the state's election-management system.

Klein said the county is converting records into searchable PDFs for posting on the county website to improve public access. "We're converting all the county records into searchable PDFs to put on the website so people can look for information they're looking for easier," she said, adding the county has increased the number of public notices posted on the front page after a cooperative arrangement with LCO.

On election administration, Klein encouraged more town clerks to become trained and certified on WisVote so they can perform more tasks locally. She described a hybrid model used by one town in which the local clerk enters absentee requests and issues ballots while county staff handle the more technical work. "If we could get all the clerks to get that level raised because it's better for election integrity because the clerks know their own voters," Klein said.

Klein said some towns currently depend on the county for services because clerks lacked training; she said about 14–15 out of 21 towns still rely on the county for portions of election administration. She said the county refunded an MOU payment to Glen Root after that town began providing more services locally.

Committee members asked questions about how widely training has been offered and whether clerks were aware of the certification option. Klein said she had emailed town clerks and planned to continue outreach and training support.

No formal action was taken; Klein said she will continue conversion work and outreach to towns about WisVote training.