Here & Now

Lisa Tollefson on Oversight of Wisconsin's 2026 Elections

Frederica Freyberg:
Adding to the stew of misinformation are election scams, including fake registration mailers, websites mimicking official government sites and AI-generated content on social media. Election officials like Rock County clerk Lisa Tollefson want to be a backstop for accurate information to the public. She joined us earlier. Thanks so much for joining us.

Lisa Tollefson:
Thank you for having me.

Frederica Freyberg:
So the Wisconsin Elections Commission has warned about voting and election scams, everything from fake polling to kind of bogus third-party mailings of registration forms. What have you seen out there this year?

Lisa Tollefson:
I have seen — people have received those very vague, very unprofessional-looking voter registration forms. Your clerk is not sending those to you, even though the return address might be your clerk. If you want to register, you can go on to myvote.wi.gov or go to your clerk’s office or register at the polls on Election Day.

Frederica Freyberg:
What kind of concerns do you have, if any, about any election interference on or after November 3?

Lisa Tollefson:
I’m not concerned as much about that. I’m more concerned about getting the election, getting everything done and ready. Our elections are very secure. We have checks and balances all the way through the system. We have a paper backup of every ballot. I don’t see that happening because we have so many things in place already to protect it. Some of the things that I think are a little more concerning are when you see things on social media. There’s so much AI. There’s — it’s kind of hard for voters to figure out what’s real and what’s not sometimes because it’s changed so much since the last governor’s race. I’ve heard that there are more fake websites that are trying to be news outlets to get out information. That concerns me, because not everybody looks at the website address or knows to even think about that. And then we have the chat bots that when you do a search, can sometimes give you general information, but it might not quite be accurate. So there’s so many different things that are playing on getting information now. That’s harder for voters. I recommend if it’s on how voting works, go to myvote.wi.gov or check with your municipal clerks or county clerks. Don’t be afraid to call and ask us questions. That’s hugely important. We’re going to tell you the process, and especially for Wisconsin, our laws are not the same as the voting laws in other states. So in Wisconsin, the ballots got to be back by 8 pm on election night, or we don’t count it. Other states, they can go by postmark. In Wisconsin, we don’t. But check the — if something seems it’s a little off, it probably is. You might want to research it before you jump in and look at it. And it’s really tough is when misinformation gets out there, it spreads like wildfire. And the correction to fix it afterwards is always a whole lot slower.

Frederica Freyberg:
Have you had voters directly reach out to your office to verify accurate information?

Lisa Tollefson:
We often do, and sometimes polling places change and again, we get them to the right place. The clerks always are willing to help anybody find their polling location or answer questions.

Frederica Freyberg:
What’s new for this election around rules or guidance?

Lisa Tollefson:
So there’s no change to the rules on absentee voting. So you can mail your — there’s no checking — the rules that we’re going to be put in place or tried to be put in place, did not go into place through the executive orders. So absentee ballots, that all stays the same. One thing that we are pushing is that if you are going to mail back your absentee ballot, mail it back at least 14 days before the election. We have found some delayed time frames for ballots being returned. Think ahead. If you have your ballot and you’re closer to the election, you might want to deliver it yourself to your clerk or a drop box. I’m concerned that the mail is going to be delayed. They try really hard, but — it’s — the last two cycles in August and April, we saw absentee ballots coming back after Election Day, and there’s nothing we can do about it.

Frederica Freyberg:
Have you seen an uptick or a decrease in absentee ballots being returned to you this year?

Lisa Tollefson:
I’m hearing from the municipal clerks it’s a little lower than in past elections. I have a feeling that when in-person voting starts, that that will be heavier.

Frederica Freyberg:
What do you expect in terms of turnout?

Lisa Tollefson:
Oh, that’s always a tough one. I actually suspect it will be quite high, probably comparable or higher than the last governor’s race.

Frederica Freyberg:
And why do you have that suspicion?

Lisa Tollefson:
I tend to look at the number of questions I’m getting. The number of signs everywhere tends to give me an idea of how energized people are to vote. And I’m seeing similar, but I’m actually seeing it earlier so that’s why I’m thinking that it’ll be a little higher than the last governor’s race.

Frederica Freyberg:
Well, we wish you luck with that if that turnout proves and we will check back in with you following Election Day. Lisa Tollefson, Rock County clerk. Thanks so much.

Lisa Tollefson:
Thank you.