The Wisconsin Municipal Clerks Association (WMCA) Board of Directors voted Feb. 8 to request all clerks, their staff and poll workers be included in COVID-19 Vaccine Group IB.

During the final week of January, the Wisconsin State Disaster Medical Advisory Committee did not include municipal clerks, members of the clerk’s department or Election Day poll workers in Group IB along with other public facing government employees.

While 2020 was a difficult year for everyone, it was particularly difficult for municipal clerks, staff and poll workers. Clerks across Wisconsin administered between three and five elections while facing shortages of personal protective equipment (PPE), trained poll workers and infection control training. These hurdles put their lives, and the lives of their poll workers at risk while answering the highest calling a democracy has: administering an election.

Additionally, with so many trained poll workers not being able to work due to age, co-morbidities or not wanting to put their lives at risk, clerks put calls out to the community to replace those poll workers. Even members of the Wisconsin National Guard were deployed to multiple polling sites across Wisconsin to help handle the shortage.

While the community and National Guard response was incredible, clerks need to prepare for the upcoming February and April elections by having as many poll workers as possible vaccinated so as not to experience another shortage.

Professional Municipal Clerks are the most public-facing public employees in Wisconsin. They respond to resident requests, contact vendors, inform the public about policies, administer ordinances and usually are the first point of contact for anyone contacting their municipality.

Whether it is a part-time clerk working out of their home, or a full-time clerk working out of their municipal building, clerks and their staff members across Wisconsin embody what a professional is. Without these valuable employees performing their duties, municipal government could grind to a halt.

Association President Wendy Helgeson echoes the thoughts of the Board: “It’s imperative for clerks, staff members and poll workers to get vaccinated as quickly as possible, if they choose to. With two more elections in 2021 fast approaching, the time is now for my colleagues, and poll workers, to get vaccinated with group 1B. We look forward to working with all 72 County Departments of Public Health as well as the State Department of Health Services to ensure these vital positions in local government have the ability to get vaccinated with our fellow local government employees in Police, Fire, Public Works, Utilities and elsewhere.”

The Wisconsin Municipal Clerks Association was formed in 1980 and represents the majority of the 2100 Clerks and Deputy Clerks across Wisconsin. The purpose of the Association is to improve the administration of local government, by providing clerks, deputies and those that perform similar duties with the skills, knowledge and education to excel in their positions.