2023 Municipal Clerk Nominations

Category: News

Posted: April 28, 2023

Municipal Clerk Nominations

Thank you Wisconsin Clerks!

April 30th – May 6th 2023 is the 54th Annual Municipal Clerks Week

Municipal clerks are in charge of elections for your city, town, or village. They handle voter registrations and absentee ballots for voters in your community. You can look up your Municipal Clerk’s name and contact information here via the My Vote WI site.

At the Wisconsin Disability Vote Coalition, we know how impactful Municipal Clerks are in making the voting process welcoming and inclusive and we want to recognize their efforts by highlighting best practices and how they make voting possible by reducing barriers.

Municipal Clerks Week was initiated in 1969 by the International Institute of Municipal Clerks and endorsed by all its members throughout the United States, Canada and 15 other countries. It is a time of celebration and reflection on the importance of the Clerk’s office.

We invited community members to recognize their municipal clerk and received many responses recognizing the outstanding work of municipal clerks across Wisconsin. Submissions recognizing Wisconsin clerks may be viewed on our website below and on our Facebook page. The WDVC thanks Wisconsin clerks for their hard work to ensure our elections are accessible for voters with disabilities and to safeguard the health, safety, and rights of voters.

View the Wisconsin Disability Vote Coalition's Press Release here.

City of Brookfield, Waukesha County

Michelle Luedtke

Nominated by Mary Ann Biederwolf

"Michelle is always accessible for any questions. Any email inquiries that I've had are answered quickly and thoroughly. Michelle has always acknowledged my presence and lets volunteers know how turnout is going when volunteering for in person early voting witnessing. She's excited about her job. Michelle conducts training in an efficient, no nonsense, personable, and complete manner. She provides handouts for the training for further reference and note taking. Michelle popped in to each voting location on election day to witness how things were going and answer any questions. She's also available by phone to the chiefs."

City of Cedarburg, Ozaukee County

City of Green Bay, Brown County

Celestine Jeffreys

Nominated by Casey Hicks

"Celestine has been an amazing clerk in Green Bay. There are two major practices she implemented that knocked down barriers for voters with disabilities and older adults.

1) Prior to Celestine being clerk, Green Bay didn't have a good system in place for curbside voting. There was no signage outside of polling locations, and voters who needed to use curbside voting had to honk their horns until a poll worker would come to them. Celestine setup signage with a phone number to call and a designated spot right by the entry of polling locations.

2) For a long time, Green Bay's early voting hours were within regular business hours (8am-4:30pm) two weeks before election day. There were multiple calls for expanding voting hours and locations. In 2022, Celestine heard that call and instituted evening and weekend early voting hours at City Hall. Green Bay now has two evenings of early voting until 9pm the Wednesday/Thursday before Election Day, and weekend hours on Saturday and Sunday. That resulted in large turnouts for early voting in Spring, similar to a Fall election."

City of Kenosha, Kenosha County

City of Madison, Dane County

City of Milwaukee, Milwaukee County

Claire Woodall-Vogg

Nominated by Erin Bloodgood and Martha Chambers

"Claire is always willing to set up a meeting and talk to the people she serves. She is always willing to listen and make improvements to the voting process including accessibility accommodations and preparations for election day."
"As a person with a disability, it is important for me and others in my situation to be able to vote without extra barriers. Claire Wodall-Vogg and her team go out of their way to be sure that the options to vote for person with disabilities are available. The accessible voting machine, curbside voting and ballot return assistance are all on her "radar". And when there are concerns, she is more than receptive to find a solution. Thank you Claire Wodall-Vogg for all that you do."

City of Sturgeon Bay, Door County

City of Whitewater, Walworth County

Michele Smith

Nominated by Ellen Penwell

"In recognition of the 54th Annual Municipal Clerks Week, the League of Women Voters Whitewater Area is honored to nominate retiring Whitewater City Clerk Michele Smith in recognition and celebration of her 24 years of outstanding service to Whitewater voters. Michele has served as Whitewater City Clerk since 1999 and recently retired (on April 7, 2023). What a wonderful way to affirm her value to a grateful community! For 24 years, Michele diligently worked behind the scenes at city hall and at the polls every Election Day making sure democracy worked for all voters in the City of Whitewater, including voters with disabilities. Whitewater is home to the University of Wisconsin - Whitewater, a national leader in educating students with disabilities. Other schools work with disabled students too, but Whitewater has a special role. UWW’s Center for Students with Disabilities, founded during the 1970-71 academic year, serves roughly 9 percent of the overall student population. Likewise, Michele conscientiously addressed accessibility issues and provided voting accommodations to this segment of the Whitewater’s electorate with professionalism and compassion. Gubernatorial and presidential elections are held in two different city locations, one on the UWW campus, in order to accommodate student participation. Michele impressively steered the Whitewater community through countless elections over the past 24 years, always remaining tirelessly nonpartisan, calm, accurate, and fair. It should be noted that voting wards in the City of Whitewater span two counties - Walworth and Jefferson. The administration of elections across counties makes the work of any city clerk all the more challenging. In her role as Whitewater City Clerk, Michele Smith embodied the values of diversity, equity and inclusivity in principle and practice believing all voters have a right to cast a ballot privately and independently at their polling place on Election Day. The Whitewater Area League believes she has made our community a fairer place in which to live and strongly supports her nomination for recognition of the 54th Annual Municipal Clerks Week."

Town of Neenah, Winnebago County

Ellen Skerke

Nominated by Kristi Armstrong

"Ellen makes all voters feel welcome and goes out of her way to be kind to each one. She makes each person she meets feel like they are the most important to her. Ellen should have been a teacher. She is extremely well versed and exudes an attitude of no question is stupid. She is extremely patient with all us. She is always a step ahead of every situation and we all work in an environment of calm and competence."

Town of Red Cedar, Dunn County

Cheryl Miller

Nominated by Annemarie McClellan and Sally Rasmussen

Cheryl is an experienced clerk who freely and frequently shares her knowledge with other municipal clerks in Dunn and neighboring counties. She was an early adopter of the Badger Books to electronic sign in at the polls. She used her experience to educate communities about the new technology that is controversial in our area. Additionally, Cheryl has tirelessly served as the LWV-GCV secretary since the chapter's inception. She is smart and thoughtful and an asset to the community.
Cheryl goes out of her way to help everyone around her. I am disabled and I am a neighboring clerk. Every week, I seem to call her for advice or just some friendly chat to keep me calm in my job. If I get stuck on the many capacities of my job, she helps me through them. If she takes this much time for me, I know she takes more for the voters and people around her.

Village of Oregon, Dane County

Candie Jones

Nominated by Carlene Bechen

"Candie's diligence in ensuring every voter is able to cast their ballot is remarkable. Signage around the Village Hall and People's United Methodist Church, the two polling locations for our village, is large and posted in various places. Candie always makes sure there are staff on hand who can assist disabled voters and older adults who may need support. These staff are well trained and courteous. Candie works through the Oregon Senior Center to provide information about voting to patrons and reaches out to the various senior housing facilities in our community to do the same. Candie is friendly, patient, and kind. Voters, poll workers, observers and staff all appreciate her knowledge, professionalism and ethics on Election Day and every day."

Village of Whitefish Bay, Milwaukee County

Jaimie Krueger

Nominated by 2 people!

Whitefish Bay does a tremendous job with election administration to support our high voter turnout. Thank you to our Clerk as well as our Deputy Clerk Erin Granstrom for their excellent work, including addressing accessibility needs. When I turned in my absentee ballot at the village hall, I saw helpful signage about the rights of disabled voters to ballot return assistance. I was also pleased to hear the clerk ask if a ballot was being returned for a disabled voter and see signage for curbside voting. Thank you WFB for upholding the rights of disabled voters!
Jaimie Krueger is excellent at providing community service to Whitefish Bay. Absentee ballot requests are processed very expediently! The information sheet that comes with your absentee ballot is very helpful and gives you contact information for additional assistance. These things are very important for people with disabilities and older adults for may rely on this method for voting. I am always confident that I will get my absentee ballot and that it will be processed accordingly under Jaimie Krueger's watch.