STEVENS POINT, WI (WSAU) — Residents in Stevens Point will now have another way to deliver their absentee ballots for the November election.
Tuesday morning the first of two Absentee Ballot drop boxes were installed in Stevens Point. The box cost the city just under $2,030 and was installed by city employee Ken Rozek outside City Hall. The drop box can be found in front of City Hall on Strongs Avenue across from the Portage County Sheriff’s Office.
Stevens Point Mayor Mike Wiza says the new drop box makes it easier for residents to utilize absentee voting. “So you are able to instead of mailing your ballot, stop by City Hall. Or you can drive up, get out of your car, drop it in a mailbox looking type thing. It’s secure, it’s going to have cameras on it and we’re going to empty it twice a day. So it’s going to be very safe.”
Along with being a safe way to securely vote, Wiza mentions it helps those concerned about voting due to the COVID-19 pandemic. “Because of COVID, where you may not want to come into City Hall or interact with anybody, this will allow you to do that. Now we don’t have the ability to sanitize the handle. So use gloves or use hand sanitizers when you’re going to be dropping that off.”
A second drop box is on its way that will be installed on the UWSP campus. The box is expected to be installed near the Dreyfus University Center and will make voting easier for students on campus. The drop box can be used by anyone in the UWSP area and will have the same retrieval process and 24-hour camera surveillance as the box by City Hall.
Since being installed Tuesday morning, Wiza says the first box has already seen quite a bit of use. Tuesday is also National Voter Registration Day.
