The public test of our electronic voting system will be held at the Montrose Town Hall, 1341 Diane Ave, Belleville WI 53508, on Wednesday, October 28, 2020 at 1:30 p.m.

First the stats:  803 registered voters; 315 absentee ballot requests (39% of electorate); 229 absentee ballots returned (72% of ballots sent; 28% of electorate).

You can still request a mail-in ballot.  Please do it sooner rather than later at this point, as the election is only a bit over 2 weeks away.  Best place to make the request is myvote.wi.gov, where you can also check the status of your ballot and find out if it has been received back at the town hall.  All absentee ballots must be returned by 8 p.m. on Election Day, November 3, 2020, in order to be counted.

In-person absentee voting starts on Tuesday, October 20, 2020.  The office will be open every weekday from that day through October 30 from 10 a.m to noon; and from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. for absentee voting.  You can make an appointment for some other time if you wish.  Call for an appointment:  608-424-3848.  

Access to the building will be limited – one voter/family/pod grouping in the main hall, one in the board room, at a time.  It is possible that you may need to wait before entering the hall to vote.  Please be patient; the idea is to minimize the risk of transmitting COVID 19.

No applications for rezoning or conditional use permits were received by the Town of Montrose as of October 12, 2020.  Accordingly, the October 26, 2020 Land Use Committee meeting has been cancelled.  The next due date for applications is November 9, 2020, for the November 23, 2020 meeting.

Status report:

801 registered voters:  305 absentee ballots issued (38% of the electorate):  186 absentee ballots returned (23% of the electorate, 61% of absentee ballots issued)

In person absentee voting starts on October 20 and goes through October 30.  The Town Hall will be open for voting each weekday starting the 20th and ending the 30th from 10 a.m. until noon, and from 2 p.m. until 4 p.m.  Anyone who needs other hours can call 608-424-3848, or e-mail montrose@chorus.net., to set up an individual time.

There is still plenty of time to request and receive an absentee ballot by mail.  The quickest way is to make the request on myvote.wi.gov.  

As of today, October 3, 2020, there are 800 registered voters in the Town of Montrose. 

          NOTE:  you can register on-line through October 14; you can mail in a registration if it is postmarked October            14 or earlier.  You can register in person at the town hall through October 30.  Or you can come in person on            election day, November 3, to register to vote.

Of our 800 registered voters, 291 (36%) have requested absentee ballots. And we have received 153 back already, 19 % of the electorate.  There is still plenty of time to request and receive a ballot by mail.  The quickest way to get your ballot is to make the request on myvote.wi.gov.  That request is immediately transmitted to the clerk’s office, and the ballot will be mailed the next business day.

As of Saturday, September 26, 2020, we have 791 registered voters, of whom 270 (34%) have requested to receive absentee ballots by mail.  So far 73 ballots (9%) have been returned and are being held securely for tabulation on election day, November 3, 2020.

There is still plenty of time to request an absentee ballot by mail.  Please keep those requests coming! 

And if you would like to help at the election, get in touch at 608-424-3848 or montrose@chorus.net.

As of September 19, 2020, the Town of Montrose has 779 registered voters.    Ballots have been mailed to all 241 (30 %)  who have so far requested ballots.  The actual mailings occurred on September 18 and 19, 2020.

There is plenty of time to register online (until October 14), and even more to request that an absentee ballot be sent to you.  However, in person absentee voting cannot legally start until October 20, 2020, 14 days before the election.  Hours to vote in person absentee will be a minimum of all weekdays from and including October 20, 2020 through and including October 30, 2020, from 10 to noon and 2 to 4.  Call to arrange a different time if you need one.  The clerk can be reached by call or text at 608-424-3848.

Please consider keeping our poll workers as safe as possible by voting absentee.  The Town will do all it can to assist you in this.

The latest information is that Payne and Dolan has completed pulverizing the surface of Speedway Road north of Schaller Road, and has graded the road preparatory to paving.  The road is open to traffic.

Payne and Dolan expects to pave at the end of next week (week of September 7th), but their scheduling is weather dependent, so the paving may occur later.  This will be a one day job, but we do not know precisely when it will occur nor exactly how long it will take.  During the actual time of paving, and possibly for a couple of hours thereafter, the road will not be usable.

From now until the paving occurs the road patrolman will be visiting the area frequently, and will be happy to answer any questions.  The clerk will be on vacation from Labor Day through September 17th, but phone messages left on the town phone (608-424-3848) will be returned to the extent possible.  

The first mailing of ballots to those who have absentee ballots requests on file (which currently is 214 of 775 voters, or 27%) will be the week of September 21, 2020.  Ballots can be returned through the mail, or by bringing them to the Town Hall.  If no one is in, they can be put through the letter slot in the office door on the south side of the  building.

The clerk will be on vacation from Labor Day through September 17, 2020.  Absentee requests received during that time period will be put into the system before the mailings start.  Thereafter, the Town will make every effort to mail out absentee ballots within a day of the receipt of the request.  The easiest way to make a request is to go on myvote.wi.gov.  We will be glad to handle requests in person at the town office if need be.  Just call 608-424-3848 after the clerk gets back to set up a time to do the paperwork.

There will be in-person absentee voting available the last two weeks before the election.  Hours will start on October 20, 2020.  The hours are weekdays from 10 a.m. to noon, and from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m.  If those hours do not work, get in touch to arrange a different time.   

Election Day is November 3, 2020.  Polls open at 7:00 a.m.  All absentee ballots must be returned to the Town Hall before the polls close at 8:00 p.m., so that they can be tabulated along with the ballots cast in person on election day.

As always, if you have any questions or concerns, please get in touch.  Contact info is montrose@chorus.net or 6608-424-3848.

The latest from Payne and Dolan:

They expect to do the pulverizing and grading on the portion of Speedway north of Schaller on Thursday, September 3, 2020.  Residents should be able to get in and out during this process, although perhaps not easily.  This is expected to be a one day operatioin.

Laying fresh pavement is expected to occur the week of September 7, 2020, after Labor Day.  This is also a one day process, but may involve some times during which the road will not be passable at all.