Filings set to occur before Feb. 14 merger date
By Gail Peckler-Dziki
Correspondent
Although the eventual merger of the Village of Silver Lake and Town of Salem is not until Feb. 14, when the Village of Salem Lakes emerges, election filings are set to occur before the official date.
The following offices for the future Village of Salem Lakes, formerly the Village of Silver Lake, have designated incumbents holding seats.
Contested incumbents include Village President Bruce Nopenz, and three Village Trustees, Patrick Dunn, Eric Ericksen and Doug Randolph.
The office of Village judge, currently held by incumbent Marlene Engstrom, also appears on the ballot.
The spring election will be held on April 14.
If a primary is required, it will be held on Feb. 21, one week after the official merger of the two municipalities.
Current Salem Town Administrator Pat Casey, the eventual Village Administrator for Salem Lakes, is pleased the Department of Administration approved the merger before the original Dec. 5 deadline.
“This has given us more time to properly prepare for elections,” he said. “We have a clear view of who is running and for which office.”
Any resident residing in the boundaries of the new municipality is eligible to run for office. That means anyone currently residing within the boundaries of the Village of Silver Lake or the Town of Salem can take out a packet and gather the required 25 signatures on the petition to be placed on the ballot.
Petitions are not for registered voters, however, with an opening for any eligible residents.
Incumbents not running for election must file a notice of non-candidacy with the clerk by 5 p.m. on Dec 23.
If someone who doesn’t intend to run and misses that deadline, that deadline for receiving nomination papers is extended by 72 hours.
Silver Lake Village Clerk Vicki Galich and Salem Town Clerk, Cindy Dulaney, have packets available for pick up.
Upon completion, packets should be returned to Galich in Silver Lake.
According to Dulaney, this is on the advice of the town attorney Rich Scholtze.
“When those packets are returned, they must be checked for sufficiency,” Dulaney said.
That means residency of potential candidates and people who signed the petition need confirmation as Salem Lakes residents.
“We can no longer be under the Village of Silver Lake or the Town of Salem,” Dulaney said. “Our information on the Wisconsin Voter Registration system will be merged to Salem Lakes in early January.”
Furthermore, Dulaney states the drawing for ballot order is held shortly after packets are returned on Jan. 3 at 5 p.m.
Once the candidates for offices in Salem Lakes are confirmed and the ballot order chosen, the information is given to the county clerk for addition to the ballot.
The state adds to the ballot the information for state offices and school districts. The county clerk adds to the ballot the information for county offices.
The municipal clerk also certifies the municipal wards and certifies the municipal wards to the school districts.
The clerk also determines the number of ballots needed in each polling place based on previous spring elections.
“Last spring will not be a factor since it was a presidential primary,” Dulaney said.
The number of absentee ballots must also be decided, based on previous absentee voters and new ones that have been added.
Early absentee voting in the clerk’s office will begin in late January, whenever the absentee ballots are sent to the clerks.
The County Clerk’s office is required to deliver ballots no later than 22 days before an election.
Casey, Dulaney, and Galich, met Thursday to hammer out plans for Election Day.