OFFICIAL BALLOT
PRESIDENTIAL PREFERENCE VOTE
.... Party
Mark this ballot in one space only. You have one of 3 choices—you may either:
Express your preference for the person whose name is printed on this ballot (in that case, make a cross (8) in the square after that person's name); or
Vote for an uninstructed delegation from Wisconsin to the national convention of the .... party (in that case, make a cross (8) in the square marked "Uninstructed delegation" following that person's name); or
Write in the name of another person to become the presidential candidate of the .... party (in that case, write that person's name into the space following "Write-in candidate").
JOHN DOE( )
Uninstructed delegation( )
Write-in candidate
5.60(8)(a)3.
3. Form 3, to be used when there are no candidates who have qualified to appear on the ballot:
OFFICIAL BALLOT
PRESIDENTIAL PREFERENCE VOTE
.... Party
Mark this ballot in one space only. There are no candidates of the .... party who have qualified to have their names appear on the printed ballot. You have 2 choices—you may either:
Express your preference for an uninstructed delegation from Wisconsin to the national convention of the .... party (in that case, make a cross (8) in the square following "Uninstructed delegation"); or
Write in the name of a person to become the presidential candidate of the .... party (in that case, write that person's name into the space following "Write-in candidate").
Uninstructed delegation( )
Write-in candidate
5.60(8)(c)
(c) The official ballots for the presidential preference vote shall be securely fastened together at the bottom. The party receiving the greatest number of votes for governor at the preceding election shall have its ticket placed on top and the remaining party ballots shall follow in the same manner. A facsimile ballot notice shall be published as provided in
s. 10.02.
5.60 Annotation
See note to Art. I, sec. 1, citing Democratic Party of U.S. v. Wisconsin, 450 US 107 (1981).
5.62
5.62
September primary ballots. 5.62(1)(a)(a) At September primaries, the following ballot shall be provided for the nomination of candidates of recognized political parties for national, state and county offices and independent candidates for state office in each ward, in the same form as prescribed by the board under
s. 7.08 (1) (a). The ballots shall be made up of the several party tickets with each party entitled to participate in the primary under
par. (b) or
sub. (2) having its own ballot. The independent candidates for state office other than district attorney shall have a separate ballot for all such candidates as under
s. 5.64 (1) (e). The ballots shall be secured together at the bottom. The party ballot of the party receiving the most votes for president or governor at the last general election shall be on top with the other parties arranged in descending order based on their vote for president or governor at the last general election. The ballots of parties qualifying under
sub. (2) shall be placed after the parties qualifying under
par. (b), in the same order in which the parties filed petitions with the board. The ballot listing the independent candidates shall be placed at the bottom. At polling places where voting machines are used, each party and the independent candidates shall be represented in one or more separate columns or rows on the ballot. At polling places where an electronic voting system is used other than an electronic voting machine, each party and the independent candidates may be represented in separate columns or rows on the ballot.
5.62(1)(b)
(b) Every recognized political party listed on the official ballot at the last gubernatorial election whose candidate for any statewide office received at least one percent of the total votes cast for that office and, if the last general election was also a presidential election, every recognized political party listed on the ballot at that election whose candidate for president received at least one percent of the total vote cast for that office shall have a separate primary ballot or one or more separate columns or rows on the primary ballot as prescribed in
par. (a) and a separate column on the general election ballot in every ward and election district. An organization which was listed as "independent" at the last general election and whose candidate meets the same qualification shall receive the same ballot status upon petition of the chairperson and secretary of the organization to the board requesting such status and specifying their party name, which may not duplicate the name of an existing party. A petition under this paragraph may be filed no later than 5 p.m. on June 1 in the year of each general election. This paragraph applies to a party only if at least one candidate of the party for a state office qualifies to have his or her name appear on the ballot under the name of the party at the last gubernatorial election.
5.62(2)
(2) Any political organization may be represented on a separate primary ballot or one or more separate columns or rows on the primary ballot as prescribed in
sub. (1) (a) and a separate column on the general election ballot in every ward and election district if, not later than 5 p.m. on June 1 in the year of a September primary, it files with the board a petition so requesting. To qualify for a separate ballot, the petition shall be signed by at least 10,000 electors, including at least 1,000 electors residing in each of at least 3 separate congressional districts. The petition shall conform to the requirements of
s. 8.40. No signature obtained before January 1 in the year of filing is valid. When the candidates of a political organization filing a valid petition fulfill the requirements prescribed by law, they shall appear on a separate ballot or one or more separate columns or rows on the ballot for the period ending with the following general election.
5.62(3)
(3) The board shall designate the official primary ballot arrangement for statewide offices and district attorney within each prosecutorial district by using the same procedure as provided in
s. 5.60 (1) (b). On each ballot and on each separate column or row on the ballot, the candidates for office shall be listed together with the offices which they seek in the following order whenever these offices appear on the September primary ballot: governor, lieutenant governor, attorney general, secretary of state, state treasurer, U.S. senator, U.S. representative in congress, state senator, representative to the assembly, district attorney and the county offices. Below the names of the independent candidates shall appear the party or principle of the candidates, if any, in 5 words or less, as shown on their nomination papers.
5.62(4)
(4) The county clerk or county board of election commissioners shall designate the official primary ballot arrangement for all candidates filing nomination papers in that office.
5.62(4)(a)
(a) Within a county the county clerk shall arrange the names of all candidates filing nomination papers with the clerk's office using the same method as that used by the board under
s. 5.60 (1) (b).
5.62(4)(b)
(b) The county board of election commissioners in counties having a population of more than 500,000 shall prepare the official primary ballot. The commissioners shall arrange the names of all candidates for each office whose nomination papers are filed at the county level, using the same method as that used by the elections board under
s. 5.60 (1) (b).
5.62(5)
(5) At the September primary, an elector may vote for the candidates of only one party, or the elector may vote for any of the independent candidates for state office listed; but the elector may not vote for more than one candidate for a single office. A space shall be provided on the ballot for an elector to write in the name of his or her choice as a party candidate for any office, but no space shall be provided to write in the names of independent candidates.
5.62 Annotation
Filing of a proper petition by the requisite number of electors in a senate, assembly or congressional district will qualify the political organization referred to in said petition as a party entitled to a separate ballot within the specific district only for all the state, congressional, legislative and county offices for which an elector of such district may vote. The petition may be circulated commencing after any November general election and ending on the June 1 immediately prior to the next succeeding September primary. A petition filed February, 1972, signed by the electors of an assembly district, would not qualify filing political organization for a separate ballot at the presidential preference primary to be held at the April, 1972, spring election. 61 Atty. Gen. 41.
5.64
5.64
General election ballots. At general elections the following ballots, when necessary, shall be provided for each ward.
5.64(1)
(1) Official ballot. There shall be a separate ballot giving the names of all candidates for statewide, congressional, legislative and county offices in the same form as prescribed by the board under
s. 7.08 (1) (a).
5.64(1)(a)
(a) The ballot shall be labeled "Official Ballot" in lettering at least three-eighths inch high. Directly underneath in plain, legible type, shall be the following voting instructions: "If you desire to vote a straight party ticket for all statewide, congressional, legislative and county offices, make a cross (8) in the circle under the party designation at the top of the party column. If you desire to vote for individual candidates, make a cross (8) in the square at the RIGHT of the name of each candidate for whom you desire to vote. To vote for a person whose name does not appear on the ballot, write the name in the blank space provided for the purpose. When voting for governor and lieutenant governor, you may vote only for the candidates on one ticket jointly or write in the names of persons in both spaces.". Under the party designation at the top of each party column shall appear the following words in boldface type: "Make a cross (8) in this circle to vote a straight party ticket.".
5.64(1)(b)
(b) Below the voting instructions the ballot shall be divided into vertical columns. The names of the candidates on the regular party tickets nominated at the primary or replacements appointed under
s. 8.35 (2) shall be printed each in a separate column under the party designation. The columns shall be arranged from left to right according to rank, based on the number of votes received by the party's candidate for president or governor at the last general election beginning with the party that received the most votes. To the right of the columns for parties qualifying under
s. 5.62 (1) (b) shall be placed the columns for parties qualifying under
s. 5.62 (2) in the same order in which the parties filed petitions with the board. To the right of the party columns shall be a column for the names of independent candidates for each office, or more than one column if the first column does not provide sufficient space for the names of all such candidates.
5.64(1)(c)
(c) The party designation shall be printed at the top of each column and under it shall appear a circle at least three-eighths of an inch in diameter for electors wishing to vote a straight party ticket. Within each column only candidates nominated by the party designated at the head of the column shall appear.
5.64(1)(d)
(d) The offices shall be arranged beginning with governor and lieutenant governor, whenever these offices are filled, and then the remaining offices in the order designated under
s. 5.62 (3).
5.64(1)(e)
(e) Within each column, each space shall state the office to be voted for directly above the candidate's first and last name. The candidate's name shall be placed in the party column by which nominated or if independent, in a column designated independent and all candidates for the same office shall appear within the same rows on the ballot. Below the names of the independent candidates shall appear the party or principle of the candidates, if any, in 5 words or less, as shown on their nomination papers. Independent candidates for the same county office shall be listed in the same manner in an order drawn by lot by or under supervision of the county clerk or board of election commissioners. The board shall conduct a redrawing for purposes of determining the arrangement of independent candidates for state office who appeared on the primary ballot in the manner provided in
s. 5.60 (1) (b). To the right of each candidate's name, in each column, shall be a square for the elector to make his or her cross (8).
5.64(1)(f)
(f) In the case of balloting for the office of governor and lieutenant governor, the names of the candidates shall be placed in the party column by which nominated or if independent, in a column designated independent. To the right of the names of the set of candidates for governor and lieutenant governor, in each column shall be one square for the elector to cast a ballot jointly for both offices.
5.64(1)(g)
(g) Following under the independent candidates for each office, a space shall be provided for the elector to write in the name of a candidate of his or her choice for that office.
5.64(2)
(2) Referendum ballot. There shall be a separate ballot when any proposed constitutional amendment or any other measure or question is submitted to a vote of the people. The ballot shall give a concise statement of each question in accordance with the act or resolution directing submission in the same form as prescribed by the board under
s. 7.08 (1) (a). The question may not be worded in such a manner as to require a negative vote to approve a proposition or an affirmative vote to disapprove a proposition. Unless otherwise expressly provided, this ballot form shall be used at all elections when questions are submitted to a vote of the people.
5.64(2)(a)
(a) The ballot shall be titled "Official Referendum Ballot" in lettering at least three-eighths of an inch high. Directly underneath in plain, legible type shall be the following voting instructions: "If you desire to vote on any question, make a cross (8) in the square beneath the question after "yes" if in favor of the question, or make a cross (8) in the square after "no" if opposed to the question.".
5.64(2)(b)
(b) Under voting instructions shall be the concise statement of the question submitted. Directly under each question shall appear the words "yes" and "no" with a square to the right of each word.
5.64(2)(c)
(c) The official referendum ballot prescribed under this subsection shall be utilized at every election, except that the format shall be altered to the extent provided or required by other laws establishing or authorizing referenda to be conducted. All referenda shall appear on a separate ballot, but more than one referendum question may appear on the same referendum ballot whenever the questions are numbered and all electors voting the ballot are entitled to vote upon all questions appearing thereon. When more than one state referendum is placed on the same ballot, the board shall number the questions in chronological sequence. If the legislature submits questions on different dates, the board shall number the questions sequentially based on the date on which the questions are submitted by the legislature. State and county referenda shall appear on a separate ballot from municipal or special district referenda. The form of all referendum ballots shall be substantially the same as that prescribed by the board under
s. 7.08 (1) (a).
5.64(3)
(3) Presidential ballots. There shall be a separate ballot when the president and vice president of the United States are to be elected containing the names of all candidates for the offices in the same form as prescribed by the board under
s. 7.08 (1) (a).
5.64(3)(a)
(a) The ballot shall be titled "Official Presidential Ballot" in lettering at least three-eighths inch high. Directly underneath in plain, legible type shall be the following voting instructions: "Make a cross (8) in the square opposite the names of the candidates for whose electors you desire to vote or write in the names of candidates for president and vice president in the space provided for the purpose. Vote in ONE square only.". The names of the candidates for the offices of president and vice president certified under
s. 8.16 (7) or filed under
s. 8.20 shall appear on the ballot in the form prescribed in
s. 7.08 (2) (a). The names of the presidential electors for the candidates supplied under
ss. 8.18 (2) and
8.20 (2) (d) are not listed on the ballot but a vote for the candidates for president and vice president is a vote for them through their named presidential electors.
5.64(3)(b)
(b) The party candidates shall be arranged consecutively from top to bottom based on the number of votes received by their party's candidate for governor at the last election beginning with the party that received the most votes. The independent president-vice president candidates shall be listed together in an order drawn by lot by or under supervision of the board, following under the party candidates. Below the names of the independent candidates shall appear the party or principle of the candidates, if any, in 5 words or less, as shown on their nomination papers. Following under the independent candidates, a space shall be left for writing in the names of a candidate for president and vice president.
5.65
5.65
Special referendum ballots. Unless otherwise provided, ballots for special referenda shall conform to the format prescribed in
s. 5.64 (2), insofar as applicable.
5.65 History
History: 1983 a. 484.
5.66
5.66
Number of ballots. 5.66(1)(1) For local elections, where necessary, municipal clerks shall have sufficient ballots printed or otherwise prepared whenever a voting system does not utilize printed ballots to assure a ballot for all electors or voting machines. For all other elections the municipal clerks shall certify to their county clerk, on the first day of the 2nd month preceding the month in which the primary is held, the approximate number of electors in the municipality. The county clerk shall total these estimates and order a sufficient supply to assure ballots for all electors and voting machines.
5.66(2)
(2) The county clerk or board of election commissioners shall print a sufficient number of sample ballots. The municipal clerk or board of election commissioners shall print sample ballots whenever the municipality prepares ballots under
s. 7.15 (2) (b) or
(c). Sample ballots shall be printed on nonwhite colored paper and shall be overprinted "SAMPLE". Voting machine sample ballots shall be a reduced size diagram of the face of the board or screen inside the voting machine with all candidates, issues and voting instructions as they will appear on the official ballot. Sample ballots to be used with an electronic voting system in which ballot labels and ballot cards are used shall be an actual size copy of the ballot label and ballot card. The clerk or board of election commissioners printing the ballots shall distribute the samples approximately as follows: 45% shall be kept in the clerk's or board's office and distributed to electors requesting them; 45% shall be sent to the municipalities, or, if the municipality prints ballots, 45% shall be sent to the county for distribution to the electors; and 10% shall be reserved to be sent to the polling places by municipalities in proportion to the number certified in
sub. (1) and made available to electors at the polls on election day.
5.68
5.68
Cost of elections. 5.68(1)(1) The cost of acquisition of ballot boxes and voting booths, voting machines or electronic voting systems and regular maintenance thereof shall be borne by the municipalities in which the boxes, booths, machines or systems are used.
5.68(2)
(2) Except as otherwise expressly provided, all costs for ballots, supplies, notices and any other materials necessary in preparing or conducting any election shall be paid for by the county or municipality whose clerk or board of election commissioners is responsible for providing them. If a ballot is prepared for a school, technical college, sewerage or sanitary district, the district shall pay for the cost of the ballot. If no other level of government is involved in a school, technical college, sewerage or sanitary district election, the district shall pay for all costs of the ballots, supplies, notices and other materials. If ballots, supplies, notices or other materials are used for elections within more than one unit of local government, the costs shall be proportionately divided between the units of local government involved in the election. In a 1st class city, all costs otherwise attributable to a school district shall be paid by the city.
5.68(3)
(3) If voting machines are used or if an electronic voting system is used in which all candidates and referenda appear on the same ballot card, the ballots for all national, state and county offices and for county and state referenda shall be prepared and paid for by the county wherein they are used. If the voting machine or electronic voting system ballot includes a municipal or school, technical college, sewerage or sanitary district ballot, the cost of that portion of the ballot shall be reimbursed to the county or paid for by the municipality or district, except as provided in a 1st class city school district under
sub. (2).
5.68(4)
(4) The cost of compensation of election officials and trainees shall be borne in the manner provided in
s. 7.03.
5.68(5)
(5) If a charge is made for the use of a polling place, the charge shall be paid by the unit of government establishing the polling place under
s. 5.25 (2) or
120.06 (9) (a).
5.68(6)
(6) The clerk of each county or municipality shall submit an invoice to the clerk of each municipality or district which is responsible for payment of election costs under this section. The municipality or district shall make payment to the county or municipal treasurer.
5.72
5.72
Correcting ballot errors. 5.72(1)
(1) As soon as possible after ballots are delivered to the county clerk or to the municipal clerk if the municipality is preparing ballots under
s. 7.15 (2), but not later than 3 weeks before any election relating to a state or national office or statewide referendum, the county or municipal clerk preparing the ballots shall submit one copy of each ballot to the board for review of possible errors. If the contractor preparing the ballots supplies proofs in advance of ballot preparation, the clerk shall submit one copy of the proofs in lieu of actual ballots. If a voting machine ballot or other ballot combining local candidates or referenda with state or national candidates or referenda is used, the entire ballot shall be submitted, but if ballots intended for distribution to electors are used, only those ballots relating to state or national offices and statewide referenda need be submitted. This subsection does not require delay of ballot distribution or mailing of absentee ballots.
5.72(2)
(2) The board shall review ballots and proof copies submitted under
sub. (1) and shall notify the county and municipal clerk of any error as soon as possible but in no event later than 7 days after submission. The clerk is not required to correct a ballot error upon receipt of notice of the error, unless ordered to do so under
sub. (3) or
s. 5.06 (6).
5.72(3)
(3) Whenever an affidavit is filed by the board or any elector alleging an error or omission in the preparation of a ballot, the circuit court for the county where the ballot is proposed to be used or its presiding judge, by order, may summarily require a county or municipal clerk to correct the error, or show cause why it should not be corrected and, by order, after the hearing, have the correction made.
5.72 History
History: 1979 c. 260;
1979 c. 311 s.
19;
1979 c. 355 ss.
9,
10; Stats. 1979 s. 5.72;
1981 c. 377;
1983 a. 484.
ELECTRONIC VOTING SYSTEMS
5.76
5.76
Adoption, experimentation or discontinuance of systems. The governing body or board of election commissioners of any municipality may by ordinance or resolution adopt, experiment with, or discontinue any electronic voting system authorized by this subchapter and approved under
s. 5.91 for use in this state, and may purchase or lease materials or equipment for such system to be used in all or some of the wards within its jurisdiction, either exclusively in combination with mechanical voting machines, or in combination with paper ballots where such ballots are authorized to be used.
5.76 History
History: 1979 c. 311;
1985 a. 304.
5.77
5.77
Applicable procedures. 5.77(1)
(1) So far as applicable, the procedure provided for voting paper ballots applies when an electronic voting system employing the use of ballots distributed to electors is used.
5.77(2)
(2) So far as applicable, the procedure provided for voting with mechanical voting machines applies when an electronic voting system employing the use of electronic voting machines is used.
5.77 History
History: 1979 c. 311.
5.78
5.78
Voting booths. At polling places where an electronic voting system employing the use of ballots distributed to electors is used, the municipality shall supply a sufficient number of voting booths for the use of electors as provided in
s. 5.35 (2).
5.78 History
History: 1979 c. 311.
5.79
5.79
Instruction of electors. At polling places where an electronic voting system employing the use of ballot cards or ballot labels and voting devices is used, the election officials shall offer each elector instruction in the operation of the voting device and ballot label or ballot card before the elector enters the voting booth. No instructions may be given after the elector has entered the voting booth, except as authorized under
s. 6.82 (2). All instructions shall be given by election officials in such a manner that they may be observed by other persons in the polling place.
5.79 History
History: 1979 c. 311.
5.80
5.80
Demonstrator electronic voting system. When an electronic voting system is used in a forthcoming election, the municipal clerk may provide, for the purpose of instructing electors in the election, one or more demonstrator electronic voting systems using the names of fictitious candidates or fictitious questions for placement in any public building within the municipality in which the election occurs. If such placement of a demonstrator takes place it shall be made available at least 30 days before the election.
5.80 History
History: 1979 c. 311.
5.81
5.81
Ballot information; arrangement; absentee ballots. 5.81(1)(1) Whenever the statutes require the use of separate ballots or columns or rows for offices, parties or referenda, and an electronic voting system employing a ballot label or ballot card is used at a polling place, a single ballot may be used for all offices, referenda and parties. The ballot information, whether placed on the ballot or on the voting device, shall, as far as practicable, be grouped and ordered in the same manner as provided for other ballots under this chapter, except that the information on the ballot card need not be in separate columns or rows and the information in the ballot label booklet may appear on a number of pages.
5.81(2)
(2) When an electronic voting system utilizes a ballot label booklet and ballot card, ballots for candidates and ballots on referenda may be placed on the voting device by providing in the ballot booklet separate ballot label pages or series of pages distinguished by differing colors. Whenever practicable, all candidates for the same office shall appear in the booklet on the same page or facing pages. More than one question may be placed on the same ballot page or series of pages. In elections where provision is made for straight party voting by marking a party circle, the designation of the political parties for straight party voting shall be on a separate page on which no names of candidates may appear. On each succeeding page of the candidate booklet, where the ballot information is listed vertically, the party affiliation of each candidate or the designation "independent" or the candidate's statement of principles, if any, shall appear immediately to the left of the candidate's name, and the name of candidates for the same office shall be listed vertically under the title of that office.
5.81(3)
(3) If a municipality utilizes an electronic voting system in which ballots distributed to electors are employed, absentee ballots may consist of ballots utilized with the system or paper ballots and envelopes voted in person in the office of the municipal clerk or voted by mail. If a ballot card is used for voting by mail it shall be accompanied by a punching tool or marking device, elector instructions and a sample ballot showing the proper positions to vote on the ballot card for each party, candidate or referendum and, if the ballot card is to be punched, shall be mounted on a suitable material.
5.81(4)
(4) In partisan primary elections, if a ballot contains the names of candidates of more than one party or the names of party candidates and independent candidates, it shall provide a space for electors to designate a party preference or a preference for the independent candidates. Failure to designate a preference does not invalidate any votes cast by an elector, except as provided in
s. 7.50 (1) (d).
