Scope Statements
Government Accountability Board
This statement of scope was approved by the governor on January 13, 2012.
Subject
Amends section
GAB 2.05 (8) and clarifies that only the signer of an election-related petition may complete the signer's name, number of the residential street address, and specific date on the petition, and that a signer or circulator may complete the signer's residential street and municipality data as well as the month and year of signing. The rule would also clarify that one individual may sign as both a signer and circulator of a petition.
Objective of the Rule
The proposed rule implements a directive from the Joint Committee for the Review of Administrative Rules (JCRAR). The directive requires the Government Accountability Board (G.A.B.) to promulgate an emergency rule specifying that no one other than the signer or the circulator may prepare an election-related petition with a signer's residential address information or the full date of signing pre-populated.
Emergency Rule Authority
The agency is authorized to promulgate the rule as an emergency rule because it has been directed to do so by the Joint Committee for the Review of Administrative Rules pursuant to Wis. Stats. ss.
227.10 (1),
227.26 (2).
Permanent Rule
The agency plans to promulgate this rule as both an emergency rule and a permanent rule. This scope statement is submitted in support of both the emergency rule and the permanent rule.
Policy Analysis
Sections
8.40 and
9.10, Stats., establish the requirements governing election-related petitions, and those standards are further outlined in GAB Chapter
2, Wis. Adm. Code. The proposed administrative rule clarifies the following specific standards and procedures related to the signing and circulating of election-related petitions:
1.
Only the signer of an election-related petition may complete the signer's name, number of the residential street address, and numeric portion of the signature date on the petition.
2. Only the signer or circulator of an election-related petition may complete the data containing the signer's residential street and municipality as well as the month and year of signing.
3. All other information contained on the petition related to a signer may be pre-filled or pre-populated.
4. An individual may sign an election-related petition as both a signer and circulator provided that one signature is executed as the signer and the other signature attests to the circulator's certification.
The above standards and requirements are consistent with applicable statutes, current administrative rules, and longstanding practices of parties gathering signatures for nomination papers and recall and referendum petitions. Section
8.40 (1), Stats., states that “Each signer of such a petition shall affix his or her signature to the petition, accompanied by his or her municipality of residence for voting purposes, the street and number, if any, on which the signer resides, and the date of signing." Section
8.40 (3), Stats., also provides that the Government Accountability Board, “shall, by rule, prescribe standards consistent with this chapter and s.
9.10 (2) to be used by all election officials and governing bodies in determining the validity of petitions for elections and signatures thereon."
GAB Chapter
2, Wis. Adm. Code, outlines more specific requirements and rules related to election-related petitions. With regard to the ability of petition circulators to complete some information related to petition signers, Section
GAB 2.05 (4) states:
Any information which appears on a nomination paper is entitled to a presumption of validity. Notwithstanding any other provision of this chapter, errors in information contained in a nomination paper, committed by either a signer or a circulator, may be corrected by an affidavit of the circulator, an affidavit of the candidate, or an affidavit of a person who signed the nomination paper. The person giving the correcting affidavit shall have personal knowledge of the correct information and the correcting affidavit shall be filed with the filing officer not later than three calendar days after the applicable statutory due date for the nomination papers.
Rules pertaining to election-related petitions apply consistently to nomination papers, referendum petitions, and recall petitions. Sec. 8.40 (1), Stats.; Sec. GAB 2.09 (5), Wis. Adm. Code.
At its meeting of November 9, 2011, the G.A.B. determined that, pursuant to current statutes and administrative rules, no one other than the signer or the circulator may prepare an election-related petition with a signer's complete residential address information or the full date of signing pre-populated, but that election-related petitions may have the municipality of residence and the month or year of signing pre-populated on a petition. The G.A.B. also determined that if the circulator of an election-related petition is also a signer of the petition, then the individual must sign once in the section of the form designed to collect information from qualified electors and a second time in the section of the form designed to obtain a certification from the circulator.
On November 15, 2011, the Joint Committee for the Review of Administrative Rules adopted a motion finding that the G.A.B.'s actions regarding pre-filling or pre-populating information on election-related petitions is a statement of policy that meets the definition of a rule pursuant to Chapter
227 of the Wisconsin Statutes.
Statutory Authority
The Board issued its determination pursuant to its responsibility and authority to issue advisory opinions under section
5.05 (6a), Stats., to conduct voter education under section
5.05 (12), Stats., and to prescribe standards to be used determining the validity of petitions for elections and petition signatures. However, given the directive of JCRAR, section
5.05 (1) (f) Stats., provides explicit authority for the G.A.B. to promulgate rules to ensure the proper administration of elections. Section
227.11 (2) (a), Stats., provides clear authority for the G.A.B. to promulgate rules to ensure the proper administration of statutes under its jurisdiction, which includes laws related to the administration of elections. Finally, Section
8.40 (3), Stats., also provides specific authority that the Government Accountability Board, “shall, by rule, prescribe standards consistent with this chapter and s.
9.10 (2) to be used by all election officials and governing bodies in determining the validity of petitions for elections and signatures thereon."
Comparison with Federal Regulations
Federal law does not address or establish standards or rules for the completion or review of election-related petitions.
Entities Affected by the Rules
Election-related petition signers and circulators will be affected by this rule. Election filing officers including the G.A.B., and county, municipal, and school district clerks will also be affected by this rule in their review of election-related petitions. The rule does not impact businesses, private economic sectors or public utility ratepayers.
Economic Impact
The rule will have minimal or no impact on the governmental entities impacted by the rule. The rule's impact in the first instance is on petition signers and circulators who are responsible for completing the petitions properly. Filing officers who accept those petitions, including the G.A.B. and municipal, county and school district clerks are required to certify whether a particular election-related petition is sufficient or insufficient. The rule would clarify the standards to be used by filing officers in reviewing such petitions.
Estimate of Time Needed to Develop the Rules
40 hours.
Government Accountability Board
This statement of scope was approved by the governor on January 13, 2012.
Subject
Creates new section of
GAB Chapter
10 and clarifies that accredited universities and colleges which issue an identification card for voting purposes may use an adhesive sticker to affix certain required information on the identification card, including the cardholder's signature as well as the issuance and expiration dates of the card.
Objective of the Rule
The proposed rule implements a directive from the Joint Committee for the Review of Administrative Rules (JCRAR). The directive requires the Government Accountability Board (G.A.B.) to promulgate an emergency rule specifying that adhesive stickers may be used to affix certain required information to identification cards issued by accredited institutions for the purpose of voting.
Emergency Rule Authority
The agency is authorized to promulgate the rule as an emergency rule because it has been directed to do so by the Joint Committee for the Review of Administrative Rules pursuant to Wis. Stats. ss.
227.10 (1),
227.26 (2).
Permanent Rule
The agency plans to promulgate this rule as both an emergency rule and a permanent rule. This scope statement is submitted in support of both the emergency rule and the permanent rule.
Policy Analysis
Sections
5.02 (6m) (f), Stats., describes one of the acceptable forms of identification that may be used to obtain an election ballot as follows:
An unexpired identification card issued by a university or college in this state that is accredited, as defined in s.
39.20 (1) (d), that contains the date of issuance and signature of the individual to whom it is issued and that contains an expiration date indicating that the card expires no later than 2 years after the date of issuance if the individual establishes that he or she is enrolled as a student at the university or college on the date that the card is presented.
Section
5.02 (16c), Stats., further provides that an acceptable form of proof of identification must contain the cardholder's name and photograph.
At its meetings of September 12, 2011 and November 9, 2011, the G.A.B. adopted motions to permit accredited universities and colleges to use stickers on identification cards as a means of complying with the provisions of Section
5.02, Stats. The Board's determination was made in response to inquiries from several public and private institutions indicating that current student identification cards would not comply with the requirements of the law and that they wished to consider using stickers to affix information to existing cards as a cost-effective method of providing voter-compliant proof of identification.
The Board's analysis applied judicially accepted rules of statutory interpretation. It looked first to the plain language of the statute, which requires that identification cards must “contain" certain data. In the absence of an applicable statutory definition of college or university, the Board relied on commonly used dictionary definitions of the term “contain" which include “to have within" and “include." The Board determined that permitting the cardholder's signature and the issuance and expiration dates of the card to be affixed by an adhesive sticker with sufficient security and verification safeguards would comply with the provisions of Section
5.02, Stats.
The proposed rule would specify that stickers affixed to compliant identification cards (1) must be tamper-evident so that removal of the sticker would make it unusable; (2) must not obscure other information on card; (3) must include an indication that it was issued by the institution such as a school logo or identifier; (4) must be affixed by personnel of the institution; and (5) may contain only the cardholders signature and the issuance and expiration dates of the card.
On November 15, 2011, the Joint Committee for the Review of Administrative Rules adopted a motion finding that the G.A.B.'s action regarding the use of stickers on student identification cards is a statement of policy that meets the definition of a rule pursuant to Chapter
227 of the Wisconsin Statutes.
The alternative to promulgating this rule is to restrict the options for accredited institutions to comply with the statutory requirements regarding photo identification cards and to require that all data be included as part of the originally-produced card at a higher cost to the institutions.
Statutory Authority
The Board issued its determination pursuant to its responsibility and authority to issue advisory opinions under Section
5.05 (6a), Stats., and to conduct voter education under Section
5.05 (12), Stats. However, given the directive of JCRAR, Section
5.05 (1) (f) Stats., provides explicit authority for the G.A.B. to promulgate rules to ensure the proper administration of elections. Section
227.11 (2) (a), Stats., provides clear authority for the G.A.B. to promulgate rules to ensure the proper administration of statutes under its jurisdiction, which includes laws related to the administration of elections.
Comparison with Federal Regulations
Federal law does not address or establish standards or rules for the issuance of photo identification cards for the purposes of obtaining an election ballot.
Entities Affected by the Rules
Accredited institutions desiring to issue photo identification cards to be used for voting purposes, as well as potential holders of such cards will be affected by this rule. Local election officials and poll workers who review identification cards as part of the voting process will also be affected by this rule. The rule does not impact businesses, private economic sectors or public utility ratepayers.
Economic Impact
The rule will have minimal or no impact on the governmental entities impacted by the rule, except to the extent that public universities or colleges desire to use adhesive stickers as a means of producing photo identification cards to be used for voting. The rule would clarify the options available for accredited institutions in issuing such cards.
