LRB-3340/1
JTK:kjf:jf
2011 - 2012 LEGISLATURE
October 31, 2011 - Introduced by Senators Lazich, Vukmir and Grothman,
cosponsored by Representatives
Pridemore and Kestell. Referred to
Committee on Transportation and Elections.
SB271,1,3
1An Act to create 6.86 (6) of the statutes;
relating to: return of absentee ballots
2and voting in person by electors who have voted by absentee ballot in the same
3election.
Analysis by the Legislative Reference Bureau
Currently, if a qualified elector casts an absentee ballot, whether by mail or in
person, the municipal clerk or board of election commissioners of the municipality
where the elector resides delivers the ballot in an absentee ballot envelope to the
polling place serving the elector's residence. There is no authorization for a
municipality to return an absentee ballot to an elector once the ballot has been cast.
The election inspectors (poll workers), upon receiving the absentee ballot of a
qualified elector, mark the poll list to indicate that the elector has voted when they
count the ballot. No elector is permitted to vote more than once in the same election.
If a municipality elects to canvass its absentee ballots centrally using a board of
absentee ballot canvassers, the board of absentee ballot canvassers marks a separate
poll list containing the names of the qualified electors of the municipality to indicate
the electors who have cast absentee ballots. The municipal board of canvassers is
then required to reconcile the poll list marked at each polling place with the poll list
marked by the board of absentee ballot canvassers to ensure that no person is
permitted to vote more than once. If the municipal board of canvassers finds that an
elector who has voted in person has also cast an absentee ballot, the absentee ballot
is void.
This bill provides that if an elector casts an absentee ballot, either by mail or
in person, the municipal clerk or board of election commissioners shall not return the
ballot to the elector. The bill also provides that an elector who casts an absentee
ballot at an election is not permitted to vote in person at the same election on election
day.
The people of the state of Wisconsin, represented in senate and assembly, do
enact as follows:
SB271, s. 1
1Section
1. 6.86 (6) of the statutes is created to read:
SB271,2,52
6.86
(6) If an elector casts an absentee ballot, either by mail or in person, the
3municipal clerk shall not return the ballot to the elector. An elector who casts an
4absentee ballot at an election is not permitted to vote in person at the same election
5on election day.
