SB771: Bill Text

LRB-1809/3

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2015 - 2016 LEGISLATURE

2015 Senate BILL 771

March 3, 2016 - Introduced by Senators Risser, Ringhand, Vinehout, Carpenter, Lassa and Miller, cosponsored by Representatives Berceau, Sargent, Spreitzer, Johnson, Kahl, Wachs, Considine, Goyke, Subeck and C. Taylor. Referred to Committee on Elections and Local Government.

SB771,1,2 An Act to amend 6.86 (1) (b) of the statutes; relating to: accepting absentee ballot applications in person on weekends.

Analysis by the Legislative Reference Bureau

Currently, a person may apply in person to the municipal clerk for an absentee ballot beginning on the third Monday before the election and ending at 7 p.m. on the Friday before the election. The clerk may only receive applications made in person Monday to Friday between the hours of 8 a.m. and 7 p.m. This bill allows a municipal clerk to accept absentee ballot applications in person between the hours of 8 a.m. and 7 p.m. on any weekend day between the third Monday before the election and the Monday immediately preceding the election.

The people of the state of Wisconsin, represented in senate and assembly, do enact as follows:

SB771,1 Section 1. 6.86 (1) (b) of the statutes is amended to read:

SB771,3,2 6.86 (1) (b) Except as provided in this section, if application is made by mail, the application shall be received no later than 5 p.m. on the 5th day immediately preceding the election. If application is made in person, the application shall be made no earlier than the opening of business on the 3rd Monday preceding the election and no later than 7 p.m. on the Friday preceding the election. No application may be received on a legal holiday. An application made in person may only be received Monday to Friday between the hours of 8 a.m. and 7 p.m. each day, except that the municipal clerk may choose to accept applications made in person between the hours of 8 a.m. and 7 p.m. on any weekend day between the 3rd Monday preceding the election and the Monday immediately preceding the election. A municipality shall specify the hours in the notice under s. 10.01 (2) (e). The municipal clerk or an election official shall witness the certificate for any in-person absentee ballot cast. Except as provided in par. (c), if the elector is making written application for an absentee ballot at the partisan primary, the general election, the presidential preference primary, or a special election for national office, and the application indicates that the elector is a military elector, as defined in s. 6.34 (1), the application shall be received by the municipal clerk no later than 5 p.m. on election day. If the application indicates that the reason for requesting an absentee ballot is that the elector is a sequestered juror, the application shall be received no later than 5 p.m. on election day. If the application is received after 5 p.m. on the Friday immediately preceding the election, the municipal clerk or the clerk's agent shall immediately take the ballot to the court in which the elector is serving as a juror and deposit it with the judge. The judge shall recess court, as soon as convenient, and give the elector the ballot. The judge shall then witness the voting procedure as provided in s. 6.87 and shall deliver the ballot to the clerk or agent of the clerk who shall deliver it to the polling place or, in municipalities where absentee ballots are canvassed under s. 7.52, to the municipal clerk as required in s. 6.88. If application is made under sub. (2) or (2m), the application may be received no later than 5 p.m. on the Friday immediately preceding the election.

SB771,3,3 (End)