AB959: Bill Text

This bill changes the date of commencement of the terms of office for elected town officers from one week after the spring election to 2 weeks after the election, consistent with the commencement dates of elected county, city and village officers. The bill does not change the June 1 commencement date for the term of an elected town assessor.

IV. ELECTIONS ADMINISTRATION

•Appointment of Poll Workers

Currently, party committeemen and committeewomen, if any, may nominate to municipalities individuals to serve as election inspectors (poll workers) and special voting deputies at certain nursing and retirement homes and community-based residential facilities. Under the appointment procedure for election inspectors, a committeeman or committeewoman submits a number of nominees equal to the number of inspectors to be appointed. A committeeman or committeewoman may designate any individual as a first choice nominee. The municipal governing body or board of election commissioners must appoint every first choice nominee unless the governing body or board of election commissioners obtains permission from the state elections board not to appoint the nominee. The elections board may only permit nonappointment if a showing of good cause is made. A municipality's request for nonappointment may be contested and is subject to notice and hearing under the state administrative procedure act. The decision of the elections board may be appealed to circuit court. Regardless of whether nominees are submitted to a municipality by a committeeman or committeewoman, all election inspectors must be designated to represent one of the 2 political parties whose candidate for president or governor received the greatest number of votes in the area served by the polling place at the most recent general election, with the party whose candidate received the greatest number of votes entitled to be represented by one more inspector than the other party. Appointees serve for 2-year terms. Vacancies are filled by the municipal clerk or board of election commissioners of each municipality in the same manner that original appointments are made.

This bill provides that whenever there are an insufficient number of nominees submitted to a municipality by the appropriate party committeemen and committeewomen, the municipality may appoint election inspectors or special voting deputies without regard to party affiliation.

•Electronic Poll Lists

Under current law, election officials at each election ward must maintain 2 separate lists of all persons voting.

This bill authorizes those lists to be maintained in an electronic format approved by the elections board or its executive director.

•Reporting Election Returns by Ward

Current law authorizes the governing body of a municipality to combine 2 or more wards for voting purposes to facilitate using a common polling place. However, with certain exceptions, every municipality having a population of 35,000 or more is required to maintain separate election returns for each ward so combined. This bill changes the population threshold so that only municipalities with a population of 50,000 or more are required to maintain separate election returns for each ward so combined.

•Composition of County Board of Canvassers

Under current law, the county board of canvassers is composed of the county clerk and 2 qualified electors of the county appointed by the clerk. If the county clerk's office is vacant, if the clerk cannot perform his or her duties or if the clerk is a candidate for an office to be canvassed by the board, the county executive or the chairperson of the county board of supervisors, if there is no executive, must designate another qualified elector of the county to perform the clerk's duties.

Also under current law, every county clerk is required to appoint one or more deputies.

This bill provides that, if a county clerk's office is vacant, if the clerk cannot perform his or her duties, or if the clerk is a candidate at an election being canvassed, the county clerk shall designate a deputy clerk to perform his or her duties. Under the bill, if the county clerk and the designated deputy clerk are both unable to perform their duties, the county executive or chairperson of the county board of supervisors designates another qualified elector to serve, as currently provided.

•Enforcement of Campaign Finance Law by Milwaukee County Board of Election Commissioners

Under current law, the state elections board is authorized to investigate, subpoena records and commence and settle civil actions requiring the payment of civil forfeitures for violations of the campaign financing law. This bill grants the same authority to the county board of election commissioners, which must be established in any county with a population of more than 500,000 (currently, Milwaukee County), with respect campaign finance reports and statements for county offices and referenda.

•Administration of Elections for Joint Municipal Judges

Under current law, municipalities may enter into an agreement to establish a joint municipal court. In such cases, candidates for municipal judge file nomination papers with the elections board and their elections are certified by the board of state canvassers. This bill requires those candidates to file nomination papers with the county clerk or board of election commissioners of the county having the largest population in the jurisdiction served by the judge and their elections to be certified by the board of canvassers of that county.

•Elimination of Preparation of Write-In Absentee Ballots for Military and Overseas Electors

Under current law, municipal clerks must prepare write-in absentee ballots for delivery to military and overseas electors no later than 90 days before the election and distribute those ballots when available or when requested. This bill deletes the requirement to prepare and distribute these ballots. Under the bill, electors who prepare these ballots themselves may continue to cast them.

•Consolidated Paper Ballots

Under current law, if a municipality utilizes paper ballots at an election, it must provide separate ballots for certain offices or combinations of offices specified by law and separate ballots for referenda. The ballots are then distributed only to those groups of electors who are eligible to vote in the elections to which they pertain.

This bill authorizes a municipality, with the consent of the county clerk or board of election commissioners of each county in which there is located any portion of the municipality, to substitute for paper ballots a consolidated ballot that is prepared for utilization with an electronic voting system in any municipality located in any such county. With the consolidated ballot, all of the offices and referenda appear on the same ballot.

The bill provides that a consolidated ballot may only be distributed to electors who are eligible to vote for all of the offices and in all of the referenda appearing on the ballot.

•Filing of Referendum Questions

Generally, under current law, notice of referenda questions that will appear on an election ballot must be published by the appropriate county or municipal clerk or other appropriate election official or agency prior to the election at which they will appear. However, the statutes do not provide a specific time by which the questions must be provided to the official or agency. This bill requires that, unless otherwise required by current law, all referenda questions that will appear on an election ballot, and all petitions seeking to have questions submitted to a vote of the people, be submitted to the responsible for the preparation of the ballots no later than 6 weeks prior to the election at which the question will appear. If, under current law, a referendum may be held sooner than 6 weeks after the filing of a petition or the passage of a resolution calling for that referendum, this bill extends the time period before which the referendum may be held to not less than 6 weeks.

•Ballot Design Requirements

Current law sets forth numerous, specific ballot design requirements for use in elections, including spring primary ballots, spring election ballots, September primary ballots, general election ballots and special referenda ballots.

This bill deletes these specific requirements. Instead, the bill requires that, unless otherwise provided by the statutes, all ballots conform with the ballot forms prescribed by the state elections board.

•Recount Fees

Under current law, each petition for a recount must be accompanied by a fee which is determined by the vote differential between the votes cast for the leading candidate and those for the petitioner or between the affirmative and negative votes cast upon a referendum question. If the vote differential is less than 10 and the total votes cast are 1,000 or less, or less than one-half of 1% of the total votes cast if more than 1,000 votes are cast, the petitioner is not required to pay a fee. If the vote differential is at least 10 out of a total vote of 1,000 or less, or at least one-half of 1% if more than 1,000 votes are cast, the petitioner is required to pay a fee of $5 for each ward for which the petition requests a ballot recount, or $5 for each municipality where no wards exist.

This bill specifies the following recount fees depending on the vote differential between the votes cast for the leading candidate and those cast for the petitioner or the difference between the affirmative and negative votes cast upon any referendum question:

1. No fee if the vote differential is less than one-half of 1%.

2. Five dollars per ward (or municipality where no wards exist) if the vote differential is at least one-half of 1% but less than 3%.

3. One-half the actual cost of the recount if the vote differential is at least 3% but less than 5%.

4. The actual cost of the recount if the vote differential is 5% or more.

Additionally, the bill requires the elections board to promulgate an administrative rule defining the "actual cost" of conducting a recount.

•Delivery of Recount Documents

Under current law, when a petition for an election recount is filed, the clerk or body with whom the petition is filed must have copies of the petition delivered to the candidates affected by the recount by the sheriff in the manner provided for service of a summons in a civil action.

This bill allows the opportunity for a candidate or an agent designated by the candidate to personally accept a copy of the petition.

•Minutes of Recount Proceedings

Under current law, a board of canvassers must keep complete minutes of all of its recount proceedings. This bill requires a copy of those minutes to be provided to the state elections board.

•Time for a Hearing on Recount Appeals

Under current law, an appeal of a recount determination may be made to the circuit court. When an appeal is filed, the court must set the matter for a hearing. However, the time prescribed by the statutes in which the hearing must be held appears to conflict in 2 different statutory provisions. One provision requires the hearing to be held within 5 days of the date of the order requiring the municipal clerks to transfer relevant election materials to the court and another provision requires the hearing to be held within 15 days of the filing of an answer to the appeal. This bill removes this apparent conflict and requires the court to hold a hearing 15 days after the date that the answer to the appeal is filed.

AB959, s. 1 Section 1. 5.01 (4) (a) of the statutes, as affected by 1997 Wisconsin Act 27, is amended to read:

AB959,10,9 5.01 (4) (a) If 2 or more candidates for the same office receive the greatest, but an equal number of votes, the winner shall be chosen by lot in the presence of the board of canvassers charged with the responsibility to determine the election, except as provided in s. 8.17 (4) (b), or in the case of an election for state or national office or municipal judge, if the judge is elected under s. 755.01 (4), or metropolitan sewerage commissioner, if the commissioner is elected under s. 66.23 (11) (am), in the presence of the chairperson of the board.

AB959, s. 2 Section 2. 5.02 (26) of the statutes is created to read:

AB959,10,13 5.02 (26) "Write-in candidate" means a candidate who seeks or receives votes at an election for an office without qualifying to have his or her name appear on the ballot at that election for the office for which the candidate seeks or receives votes.

AB959, s. 3 Section 3. 5.05 (1) (e) of the statutes is amended to read:

AB959,11,5 5.05 (1) (e) Delegate to its executive director the authority to issue a subpoena under par. (b), apply for a search warrant under par. (b), commence an action under par. (d), intervene in an action or proceeding under sub. (9), issue an order under s. 5.06, exempt a polling place from accessibility requirements under s. 5.25 (4) (a), exempt a municipality from the requirement to use voting machines or an electronic voting system under s. 5.40 (5m), approve an electronic data recording system for maintaining poll lists under s. 6.79, or authorize nonappointment of an individual who is nominated to serve as an election official under s. 7.30 (4) (e), subject to such limitations as the board deems appropriate.

AB959, s. 4 Section 4. 5.15 (6) (b) of the statutes is amended to read:

AB959,12,4 5.15 (6) (b) No later than 60 days before each September primary and general election, and no later than 30 days before each other election the governing body of any municipality may by resolution combine 2 or more wards for voting purposes to facilitate using a common polling place. Whenever wards are so combined, the original ward numbers shall continue to be utilized for all official purposes. Except as otherwise authorized under this paragraph, every municipality having a population of 50,000 or more, or 35,000 or more after June 1, 1996, shall maintain separate returns for each ward so combined. In municipalities having a population of less than 50,000, or less than 35,000 after June 1, 1996, the governing body may provide in the resolution that returns shall be maintained only for each group of combined wards at any election. In municipalities having a population as shown in the 1990 federal decennial census of at least 87,000 but not more than 150,000, the governing body may provide in a resolution adopted prior to June 1, 1996 that groups of not more than 2 wards shall use common ballot boxes and ballots or voting machines and that returns shall be maintained only for each group of combined wards at any election held prior to June 1, 1996. Whenever a governing body provides for common ballot boxes and ballots or voting machines, separate returns shall be maintained for each separate ballot required under ss. 5.62 and 5.64 at the September primary and general election. The municipal clerk shall transmit a copy of the resolution to the county clerk of each county in which the municipality is contained. In municipalities having a population of less than 50,000 , or less than 35,000 after June 1, 1996, the resolution shall remain in effect for each election until modified or rescinded, or until a new division is made under this section.

AB959, s. 5 Section 5. 5.25 (1) of the statutes is amended to read:

AB959,12,11 5.25 (1) All elections under chs. 5 to 12 shall be held at the polling places provided in this section. So far as practicable, the The places chosen shall be public buildings, unless the use of a public building for this purpose is impracticable or a nonpublic building better serves the needs of the electorate, as determined by the authority charged with the responsibility for establishing polling places under sub. (2).

AB959, s. 6 Section 6. 5.25 (4) (b) of the statutes is repealed.

AB959, s. 7 Section 7. 5.25 (4) (d) of the statutes is created to read:

AB959,12,18 5.25 (4) (d) No later than June 30, 1999, and every 2 years thereafter, the board shall submit a report on impediments to voting faced by elderly and handicapped individuals to the appropriate standing committees of the legislature under s. 13.172 (3). In preparing its report under this paragraph, the board shall consult with appropriate advocacy groups representing the elderly and handicapped populations.

AB959, s. 8 Section 8. 5.35 (6) (a) 4. of the statutes is repealed.

AB959, s. 9 Section 9. 5.37 (3) of the statutes is amended to read:

AB959,12,24 5.37 (3) For presidential electors one device shall be provided to vote for all of one party's electoral candidates at the same time. The device shall be opposite or adjacent to the ballot containing the names of the party's candidates for president and vice president.

AB959, s. 10 Section 10. 5.51 (8) of the statutes is created to read:

AB959,13,2 5.51 (8) Unless otherwise specifically provided, the form of all ballots shall conform to the ballot forms prescribed by the board under s. 7.08 (1) (a).

AB959, s. 11 Section 11. 5.55 (intro.) of the statutes is renumbered 5.55 and amended to read:

AB959,13,16 5.55 Ballot identification. On every ballot, except a ballot label or voting machine ballot, shall be printed "Official .... Ballot" or "Official .... Ballot for ...." followed by the designation of the polling place for which the ballot has been prepared, the date of the election, and the official endorsement and blank certificates. The number of the ward or wards or aldermanic district, if any, and the name of the municipality may be omitted in printing and stamped or written on the ballots at any location which is clearly visible at the option of the county clerk. Printed information and initials shall appear on the back and outside of the ballot. When a ballot card is employed with an electronic voting system, the date of the election may be printed or stamped on the back of the ballot card in such a manner that the card is not reusable, at the option of the county clerk. Each ballot shall be prepared in substantially the following form:

AB959, s. 12 Section 12. 5.55 (form) of the statutes is repealed.

AB959, s. 13 Section 13. 5.58 (1c) of the statutes is amended to read:

AB959,13,24 5.58 (1c) Municipal judge. There shall be a separate ballot for municipal judges if they are elected under s. 755.01 (4). Arrangement of the names on the ballot shall be determined by the board. The ballot shall be entitled "Official Primary Ballot for Municipal Judge" county clerk or the executive director of the county board of election commissioners of the county having the largest portion of the population in the jurisdiction served by the judge.

AB959, s. 14 Section 14. 5.58 (1r) of the statutes is amended to read:

AB959,14,8 5.58 (1r) Town sanitary district commission. There shall be a separate ballot for members of the town sanitary district commission if commissioners are elected under s. 60.74 and the boundaries of the district are not coterminous with one or more towns. Candidates for different seats shall be listed in separate columns or rows if more than one seat is contested in any election. Arrangement of the names on the ballot shall be determined by the town clerk of the town whose board of supervisors directs the election, in the same manner as provided in s. 5.60 (1) (b). The ballot shall be titled "Official Primary Ballot for Town Sanitary District Commission".

AB959, s. 15 Section 15. 5.58 (2) (a) of the statutes is renumbered 5.58 (2) and amended to read:

AB959,14,22 5.58 (2) State superintendent of public instruction; judiciary; county executive; and county supervisors. There shall be one separate ballot for state superintendent, judicial officers, county executive under s. 59.17 and county supervisor. In counties having a population of 500,000 or more, the ballot also shall include those offices under s. 8.11 (2) and (2m). The arrangement of names of candidates for state superintendent, justice, court of appeals judge and circuit court judge shall be determined by the board in the manner specified in s. 5.60 (1) (b). Arrangement of the names of candidates for county executive and county supervisor shall be determined by the county clerk or by the executive director of the county board of election commissioners in the manner specified in s. 5.60 (1) (b). The ballot shall be titled "Official Ballot for State Superintendent of Public Instruction, Judicial, County Executive and County Supervisor Primary".

AB959, s. 16 Section 16. 5.58 (2) (b) of the statutes is repealed.

AB959, s. 17 Section 17. 5.58 (2m) of the statutes is amended to read:

AB959,15,6 5.58 (2m) Metropolitan sewerage commission. There shall be a separate ballot for members of the metropolitan sewerage commission if commissioners are elected under s. 66.23 (11) (am), with candidates for different seats listed in separate columns or rows if more than one seat is contested at any election. Arrangement of the names on the ballot shall be determined by the board. The ballot shall be titled "Official Primary Ballot for Metropolitan Sewerage Commission".

AB959, s. 18 Section 18. 5.60 (1) (intro.) of the statutes is amended to read:

AB959,15,16 5.60 (1) State superintendent; judiciary; county executive and county supervisors. (intro.) There shall be one separate ballot for state superintendent, judicial officers, county executive and county supervisor. For county supervisor, the ballot shall be prepared in accordance with ss. 5.58 (2) and 59.10 (3). Arrangement of the names of candidates for county executive and, county supervisor and municipal judge, if the judge is elected under s. 755.01 (4), shall be determined by the county clerk or the executive director of the county board of election commissioners determining ballot arrangement under s. 5.58 (1c), in the manner prescribed in par. (b).

AB959, s. 19 Section 19. 5.60 (1) (b) of the statutes is amended to read:

AB959,16,3 5.60 (1) (b) The board shall certify the candidates' names and designate the official ballot arrangement for candidates for state superintendent, justice, court of appeals judge, circuit judge, municipal judge elected under s. 755.01 (4) and, if commissioners are elected under s. 66.23 (11) (am), the metropolitan sewerage commission. The arrangement of names of all candidates on the ballot whose nomination papers are filed with the board shall be determined by the board by the drawing of lots not later than the 2nd Tuesday in January, or the next day if the first Tuesday is a holiday. Whenever a primary is held for an office, a 2nd drawing of all candidates for that office shall be held by or under the supervision of the board not later than the 3rd day following the completion of the primary canvass to determine the arrangement of candidates on the election ballot.

AB959, s. 20 Section 20. 5.60 (8) (a) of the statutes is amended to read:

AB959,16,6 5.60 (8) (a) An official ballot shall be printed and provided for use in each voting district. The form of each ballot shall be substantially as follows:

AB959,16,7 1. Form 1, to be used when there are several candidates:

AB959,16,8 OFFICIAL BALLOT

AB959,16,9 PRESIDENTIAL PREFERENCE VOTE

AB959,16,10 .... Party

AB959,16,11 Mark this ballot in one space only. You have one of 3 choices—you may either:

AB959,16,13 Express your preference for one of the persons whose names are printed on this ballot (in that case, make a cross (8) in the square after that person's name); or

AB959,16,16 Vote 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

AB959,16,19 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").

AB959,16,20 OLE CARLSON( )