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Voting & Elections Toolkits: Election Information for Wisconsin

Voting and advocacy resources by librarians for librarians

Primaries vs. General Elections

Primaries vs. general elections

  • Primary elections are conducted to select each party’s candidates in the general election.
  • Wisconsin conducts open primaries, any registered voter may vote in the Wisconsin primaries.
  • In a general election, voters are not required to have a party affiliation.

Offices/Measures That May Appear on the Ballot

Jurisdiction

Offices/Measures That May Appear on the Ballot

Federal (even years)

President/Vice-President (elected every four years; next election in 2028)

Senator (elected every six years for staggered terms; next election in 2026)

U.S. House of Representatives (elected every two years)

State (even years)

Governor/Lieutenant Governor, Secretary of State, Treasurer, Attorney General (elected every four years; next election in 2026)

Wisconsin Superintendent of Public Instruction (every four years; next election in 2029)

State Senator (elected every two years)

State Assembly(elected every two years)

Statewide ballot measures

State Supreme Court

Intermediate Appellate Courts

Municipal (varies)

School Board and other boards and commissions

Municipal Governments

Sheriffs 

Local ballot measures

Who's on the Ballot

Who are the candidates, and what else is on the ballot?

Important Dates

Important Dates

Election Day is November 3, 2026

Dates of Wisconsin elections can be found on the State Elections website.

Who Conducts Elections

Who conducts elections?

  • The Wisconsin Election Commission oversees statewide and local elections
  • Municipal and County Clerks maintains voter rolls, prepare ballots and administer balloting for each municipality.

Voter Bill of Rights

Voter Bill of Rights

Wisconsin does not currently have a voter bill of rights

Complaints About Elections

Where to go with complaints about candidates or how elections are conducted

The Wisconsin Elections Commission hears complaints concerning violations of election law. Complaints alleging that an election official has acted improperly may result in the Commission issuing an order to that official to correct the violation. Complaints alleging election crimes may be referred by the Commission to a district attorney for consideration of prosecution.

Campaign Finance

Campaign finance

Wisconsin Campaign Finance Information System provides access to candidates’ election committee and Political Action Committee campaign finance filings.

Contact Elected Officials

How to contact your elected officials:

Find your elected officials

Disclaimer

Librarians from the Government Documents Round Table (GODORT), a Round Table of the American Library Association (ALA), created these reference guides. These guides are intended for informational purposes only and are not in any way intended to be legal advice.

If you have questions or feedback to share about these guides, we encourage you to CONTACT US.

These guides are designated with a Creative Commons license and re-use and modification for educational purposes is encouraged.

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