LRB-3780/1
JTK:lmk&wlj:jf
2005 - 2006 LEGISLATURE
October 20, 2005 - Introduced by Representatives Jeskewitz, Pridemore, Nischke,
J. Fitzgerald, Nass, Albers, Kerkman, Lothian, Kleefisch, F. Lasee, Bies,
Ainsworth, McCormick, Suder, Gundrum, Strachota and Gunderson,
cosponsored by Senators Reynolds, Grothman, Stepp and Ellis. Referred to
Committee on Campaigns and Elections.
AB782,1,12
1An Act to repeal 6.26 (2) (d), 6.275 (1) (c), 6.29, 6.32 (3), 6.54, 6.55 (2) (a) 2., 6.55
2(2) (cm), 6.55 (3), 6.55 (6), 6.56 (2) and 6.86 (3) (a) 2.;
to renumber 6.86 (3) (a)
31.;
to renumber and amend 6.55 (2) (a) 1., 6.55 (2) (d) and 6.97 (3);
to amend
46.02 (1), 6.02 (2), 6.10 (3), 6.10 (4), 6.15 (1), 6.15 (2) (a), 6.15 (3), 6.18 (form), 6.275
5(1) (b), 6.275 (1) (d), 6.28 (1), 6.30 (1), 6.32 (4), 6.33 (1), 6.33 (2) (b), 6.40 (1) (a)
61., 6.40 (1) (c), 6.45 (1), 6.45 (1m), 6.50 (10), 6.55 (title), 6.55 (2) (b), 6.55 (2) (c)
71., 6.56 (1), 6.56 (3), 6.56 (5), 6.79 (2) (b) and (c), 6.79 (4), 6.85, 6.86 (3) (b), 6.86
8(3) (c), 6.87 (2) (form), 6.94, 6.97 (1), 6.97 (2), 7.03 (1) (d), 7.08 (1) (c), 7.30 (2) (a)
9and 12.13 (3) (v);
to repeal and recreate 6.15 (2) (title); and
to create 6.79 (2)
10(dm), 6.86 (1) (c) and 6.97 (3) (b) of the statutes;
relating to: the deadline and
11procedure for voter registration and the determination of residency for voting
12purposes.
Analysis by the Legislative Reference Bureau
Under current law, every municipality with a population of greater than 5,000
is required to maintain a voter registration list. Effective on January 1, 2006, voter
registration will be required in all municipalities. With certain exceptions, the
deadline for voter registration is 5 p.m. on the second Wednesday preceding the
election. Registrations made by mail must be delivered to the office of the municipal
clerk or board of election commissioners or postmarked no later than this deadline.
However, under current law, voters may also register in person at the office of the
municipal clerk or board of election commissioners until 5 p.m. on the day before the
election or, in most cases, may register at the proper polling place or other designated
location on election day. In addition, voters may register at any time after the
deadline if the municipal clerk of the municipality where they reside determines that
the registration list can be revised to incorporate their registrations in time for the
election. If an elector registers at the office of the municipal clerk or board of election
commissioners after the close of registration or at a polling place or other designated
location on election day, the elector must present acceptable proof of residence or
have another elector of the same ward or, if a municipality is not divided into wards,
of the same municipality, sign a statement corroborating the elector's registration.
The corroborating elector must then present acceptable proof of residence.
Currently, an elector who appears at a polling place and who claims to be
registered to vote in the election but whose name does not appear on the registration
list may vote by signing a statement to the effect that he or she is a qualified elector
of the ward or, if a municipality is not divided into wards, of the same municipality,
served by the polling place and that he or she is registered to vote in the election.
The elector must also present acceptable proof of residence or have another elector
of the same ward or, if a municipality is not divided into wards, of the same
municipality, sign a statement corroborating the elector's statement. The
corroborating elector must then present acceptable proof of residence.
This bill provides that the deadline for registration is 5 p.m. on the 14th day
preceding the election. Under the bill, in-person registrations must be completed by
this deadline, and registrations made by mail must be delivered or postmarked no
later than this deadline. The bill discontinues the procedure for registration at
polling places and other designated locations on election day and the procedure
under which an elector whose name does not appear on the registration list may be
permitted to vote. However, the bill permits an elector who changes his or her name
or who moves to a new residence within the same ward or, if a municipality is not
divided into wards, of the same municipality, to update his or her registration at the
proper polling place or other designated location on election day.
Under current law, with certain limited exceptions, an individual must be a
resident of this state for ten days before an election to be eligible to vote in the
election. This bill increases this durational residency requirement to 14 days.
The bill provides that if an elector claims to have registered to vote in an election
at the address where the elector seeks to vote no later than the 14th day before the
election but the elector's name does not appear on the registration list at that
address, the elector may cast a marked, provisional ballot. If by 4 p.m. on the day
after the election, the elector submits proof to the municipal clerk or executive
director of the municipal board of election commissioners that the elector was
properly registered and the clerk or executive director notifies the appropriate board
or boards of canvassers of that fact, the provisional ballot is counted.
If enacted, this bill will activate certain requirements under the National Voter
Registration Act (commonly referred to as the motor voter law), from which this state
is currently exempt. Primarily, these requirements include simultaneous voter
registration with motor vehicle driver's license applications and renewals, voter
registration at any office that provides public assistance, voter registration at any
office that primarily provides state-funded services to persons with disabilities, and
voter registration at armed forces recruiting offices. In addition, the bill will activate
a requirement under the federal Help America Vote Act of 2002 that authorizes
voters whose ballots are not accepted at federal elections to cast provisional ballots
in those elections. This state is currently exempt from that requirement.
For further information see the state and local fiscal estimate, which will be
printed as an appendix to this bill.
The people of the state of Wisconsin, represented in senate and assembly, do
enact as follows:
AB782, s. 1
1Section
1. 6.02 (1) of the statutes is amended to read:
AB782,3,42
6.02
(1) Every U.S. citizen age 18 or older who has resided in an election district
3or ward for
10 14 days before any election where the citizen offers to vote is an eligible
4elector.
AB782, s. 2
5Section
2. 6.02 (2) of the statutes is amended to read:
AB782,3,106
6.02
(2) Any U.S. citizen age 18 or older who moves within this state later than
710 14 days before an election shall vote at his or her previous ward or election district
8if the person is otherwise qualified. If the elector can comply with the
10-day 14-day 9residence requirement at the new address and is otherwise qualified, he or she may
10vote in the new ward or election district.
AB782, s. 3
11Section
3. 6.10 (3) of the statutes is amended to read:
AB782,4,512
6.10
(3) When an elector moves from one ward to another
within a municipality 13or from one municipality to another within the state
after the last registration day
14but at least 10 days before the election, the elector may vote in and be considered a
1resident of the new ward or municipality where residing upon transferring
2registration under s. 6.40 (1) or upon registering at the proper polling place or other
3registration location in the new ward or municipality under s. 6.55 (2) or 6.86 (3) (a)
42. If the elector moves within
10 14 days of an election, the elector shall vote in the
5elector's
old former ward or municipality if otherwise qualified to vote there.
AB782, s. 4
6Section
4. 6.10 (4) of the statutes is amended to read:
AB782,4,177
6.10
(4) The residence of an unmarried person sleeping in one ward and
8boarding in another is the place where the person sleeps. The residence of an
9unmarried person in a transient vocation, a teacher or a student who boards at
10different places for part of the week, month
, or year, if one of the places is the
11residence of the person's parents, is the place of the parents' residence unless through
12registration or similar act the person elects to establish a residence elsewhere. If the
13person has no parents and if the person has not registered elsewhere, the person's
14residence shall be at the place
which that the person considered his or her residence
15in preference to any other for at least
10 14 days before an election. If this place is
16within the municipality, the person is entitled to all the privileges and subject to all
17the duties of other citizens having their residence there, including voting.
AB782, s. 5
18Section
5. 6.15 (1) of the statutes is amended to read:
AB782,4,2419
6.15
(1) Qualifications. Any person who was or who is a qualified elector under
20ss. 6.02 and 6.03, except that he or she has been a resident of this state for less than
2110 14 days prior to the date of the presidential election, is entitled to vote for the
22president and vice president but for no other offices. The fact that the person was
23not registered to vote in the state from which he or she moved does not prevent voting
24in this state if the elector is otherwise qualified.
AB782, s. 6
25Section
6. 6.15 (2) (title) of the statutes is repealed and recreated to read:
AB782,5,1
16.15
(2) (title)
Application for ballot.
AB782, s. 7
2Section
7. 6.15 (2) (a) of the statutes is amended to read:
AB782,5,103
6.15
(2) (a) The elector's request for the application form may be made in person
4to the municipal clerk of the municipality where the person resides. Application may
5be made not sooner than
9 13 days nor later than 5 p.m. on the day before the election
,
6or may be made at the proper polling place in the ward or election district in which
7the elector resides. If an elector makes application before election day, the. The 8application form shall be returned to the municipal clerk after the affidavit has been
9signed in the presence of the clerk or any officer authorized by law to administer
10oaths. The affidavit shall be in substantially the following form:
AB782,5,1111
STATE OF WISCONSIN
AB782,5,1212
County of ....
AB782,5,2313
I, ...., do solemnly swear that I am a citizen of the United States; that prior to
14establishing Wisconsin residence, my legal residence was in the .... (town) (village)
15(city) of ...., state of ...., residing at .... (street address); that on the day of the next
16presidential election, I shall be at least 18 years of age and that I have been a legal
17resident of the state of Wisconsin since ...., .... (year), residing at .... (street address),
18in the [.... ward of the .... aldermanic district of] the (town) (village) (city) of ...., county
19of ....; that I have resided in the state less than
10
14 days, that I am qualified to vote
20for president and vice president at the election to be held November ...., .... (year),
21that I am not voting at any other place in this election and that I hereby make
22application for an official presidential ballot, in accordance with section 6.15 of the
23Wisconsin statutes.
AB782,5,2525
P.O. Address ....
AB782,6,1
1Subscribed and sworn to before me this .... day of ...., .... (year)
AB782, s. 8
4Section
8. 6.15 (3) of the statutes is amended to read:
AB782,6,215
6.15
(3) Procedure at polling place Use of electronic voting systems. An
6eligible elector may appear at the polling place for the ward or election district where
7he or she resides and make application for a ballot under sub. (2). Except as
8otherwise provided in this subsection, an elector who casts a ballot under this
9subsection shall follow the same procedure required for casting a ballot at the
10municipal clerk's office under sub. (2). The inspectors shall perform the duties of the
11municipal clerk, except that the inspectors shall return the cancellation card under
12sub. (2) (b) to the municipal clerk and the clerk shall forward the card as provided
13in sub. (2) (c) if required. Upon proper completion of the application and cancellation
14card and submittal of acceptable proof of residence under s. 6.55 (7) or providing
15corroboration of residence, the inspectors shall permit the elector to cast his or her
16ballot for president and vice president. The elector shall mark the ballot and, unless
17the ballot is utilized with an electronic voting system, the elector shall fold the ballot,
18and deposit the ballot into the ballot box or give it to the inspector. The inspector
19shall deposit it directly into the ballot box. Voting machines or ballots utilized with
20electronic voting systems may only be used by electors voting under this section if
21they permit voting for president and vice president only.
AB782, s. 9
22Section
9. 6.18 (form) of the statutes is amended to read:
AB782,7,224
This form shall be returned to the municipal clerk's office. Application must be
25received in sufficient time for ballots to be mailed and returned prior to any
1presidential election at which applicant wishes to vote. Complete all statements in
2full.
AB782,7,33
APPLICATION FOR PRESIDENTIAL
AB782,7,44
ELECTOR'S ABSENTEE BALLOT.
AB782,7,55
(To be voted at the Presidential Election
AB782,7,66
on November ...., .... (year)
AB782,7,157
I, .... hereby swear or affirm that I am a citizen of the United States, formerly
8residing at .... in the .... ward .... aldermanic district (city, town, village) of ...., County
9of .... for
10 14 days prior to leaving the State of Wisconsin. I, .... do solemnly swear
10or affirm that I do not qualify to register or vote under the laws of the State of ....(State
11you now reside in) where I am presently residing. A citizen must be a resident of:
12State ....(Insert time) County ....(Insert time) City, Town or Village ....(Insert time),
13in order to be eligible to register or vote therein. I further swear or affirm that my
14legal residence was established in the State of ....(the State where you now reside)
15on .... Month .... Day .... Year.
AB782,7,1717
Address ....(Present address)
AB782,7,1818
....(City) ....(State)
AB782,7,1919
Subscribed and sworn to before me this .... day of .... .... (year)
AB782,7,2020
....(Notary Public, or other officer authorized to administer oaths.)
AB782,7,2121
....(County)
AB782,7,2222
My Commission expires
AB782,7,2323
MAIL BALLOT TO:
AB782,7,2525
ADDRESS ....
AB782,8,1
1CITY .... STATE .... ZIP CODE ....