This letter to the editor, by Christopher Rivard, appeared in the Hudson Star Observer on October 29, 2026.
Hey, buddy! Did you vote? Was it hard? It shouldn’t be hard, right? Voting is protected by the U.S. Constitution.
I went to vote on the first day of in-person absentee voting. I showed up at City Hall with my ID at 8 a.m. Tuesday, Oct. 20, when the building opened, but absentee voting didn’t start until 1 p.m., and it ran only until 4 p.m.
Hudson’s first week of in-person absentee voting ran from 1 to 4 p.m. Tuesday through Friday. In the second week, voting is available from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Monday through Wednesday and from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Thursday and Friday. In total, Hudson offers 46 hours of early voting.
Comparing Hudson’s hours with those in River Falls and New Richmond shows Hudson voters get much less access than voters in surrounding cities. River Falls offers early voting from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., nine hours every weekday, for a total of 81 hours.
New Richmond offers even more. In the first week, early voting ran from 7 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Tuesday through Thursday and from 7 to 11:30 a.m. Friday. That’s 33 hours, just 13 hours less than Hudson offers in total. In the second week, voting runs from 7 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday through Thursday, from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. Friday, and from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Halloween, Saturday, Oct. 31. Not a trick but a treat! New Richmond offers more hours in its second week of early voting (54) than Hudson offers in both weeks combined.
Early voting hours are set by the city clerk, who is appointed by the mayor and approved by the City Council.
It will be interesting to see whether Hudson has a similar drop in early voters.
Call me if you need a ride to the polls!