Amendment SA1-AB700

RJM:cmh:hmh

1999 - 2000 LEGISLATURE

SENATE AMENDMENT 1, TO 1999 ASSEMBLY BILL 700

March 3, 2000 - Offered by Committee on Agriculture, Environmental Resources and Campaign Finance Reform.

AB700-SA1,1,1 At the locations indicated, amend the engrossed bill as follows:

AB700-SA1,1,2 1. Page 34, line 15: delete lines 15 to 19 and substitute:

AB700-SA1,1,3 " Section 65m. 6.22 (2) (b) of the statutes is repealed and recreated to read:

AB700-SA1,1,6 6.22 (2) (b) Notwithstanding s. 6.87 (4), a military elector shall make and subscribe to the certification under s. 6.87 (2) before a witness who is an adult U.S. citizen.".

AB700-SA1,1,8 2. Page 35, line 16: delete "certification or affidavit" and substitute " affidavit certification".

AB700-SA1,1,10 3. Page 37, line 10: delete the material beginning with "certificate" and ending with "certificate-affidavit" on line 11 and substitute "certificate affidavit".

AB700-SA1,2,4 4. Page 37, line 13: delete the material beginning with "Whenever" and ending with "citizens." on line 15 and substitute "Whenever an application, affidavit or other act is required in ss. 6.86 to 6.89 an overseas elector may fulfill the requirements by subscribing or swearing before any person authorized to administer oaths or 2 adult U.S. citizens Notwithstanding s. 6.87 (4), an overseas elector shall make and subscribe to the special certificate form before a witness who is an adult U.S. citizen.".

AB700-SA1,2,5 5. Page 38, line 6: after that line insert:

AB700-SA1,2,6 " Section 75m. 6.24 (7) of the statutes is amended to read:

AB700-SA1,2,12 6.24 (7) Voting procedure. Except as authorized under s. 6.25, the ballot shall be marked or punched and returned, deposited and recorded in the same manner as other absentee ballots. In addition, the certificate-affidavit certificate shall have a statement of the elector's birth date. Failure to return the unused ballots in a primary election does not invalidate the ballot on which the elector casts his or her votes.".

AB700-SA1,2,14 6. Page 44, line 1: delete "notarize the affidavit" and substitute "notarize the affidavit witness the voting procedure".

AB700-SA1,2,16 7. Page 44, line 24: delete the material beginning with that line and ending with page 45, line 5, and substitute:

AB700-SA1,2,17 " Section 95p. 6.87 (2) of the statutes is amended to read:

AB700-SA1,2,22 6.87 (2) The Except as authorized under sub. (3) (d), the municipal clerk shall place the ballot in an unsealed envelope furnished by the clerk. The envelope shall have the name, official title and post-office address of the clerk upon its face. The other side of the envelope shall have a printed certificate-affidavit certificate in substantially the following form:

AB700-SA1,2,23 [STATE OF ....

AB700-SA1,2,24 County of ....]

AB700-SA1,3,1 or

AB700-SA1,3,2 [(name of foreign country and city or other jurisdictional unit)]

AB700-SA1,3,18 I, ...., (certify) (do solemnly swear) subject to the penalties of s. 12.60 (1) (b), Wis. Stats., for false statements, that I am a resident of the [.... ward of the] (town) (village) of ...., or of the .... aldermanic district in the city of ...., residing at .... in said city, the county of ...., state of Wisconsin, and am entitled to vote in the (ward) (election district) at the election to be held on ....; that I am not voting at any other location in this election; that I cannot appear at the polling place in the (ward) (election district) on election day because I expect to be absent from the municipality or because of age, sickness, handicap, physical disability, religious reasons, jury duty, service as an election official, or because I have changed my residence within the state from one ward or election district to another within 10 days before the election. I (certify) (swear) that I exhibited the enclosed ballot unmarked to the (2 witnesses) (person administering the oath) witness, that I then in (their) (his) (her) presence and in the presence of no other person marked the ballot and enclosed and sealed the same in this envelope in such a manner that no one but myself and any person rendering assistance under s. 6.87 (5), Wis. Stats., if I requested assistance, could know how I voted.

AB700-SA1,3,19 Signed ....

AB700-SA1,3,21 The (2 witnesses) (person administering the oath) witness shall execute either of the following as appropriate:

AB700-SA1,4,2 We I, the undersigned witnesses witness, subject to the penalties of s. 12.60 (1) (b), Wis. Stats., for false statements, certify that the above statements are true and the voting procedure was executed as there stated. Neither of us is I am not a candidate for any office on the enclosed ballot (except in the case of an incumbent municipal clerk). The elector was not solicited or advised by us I did not solicit or advise the elector to vote for or against any candidate or measure.

AB700-SA1,4,3 ....(Name)

AB700-SA1,4,4 ....(Address)

AB700-SA1,4,5 ....(Name)

AB700-SA1,4,6 ....(Address)

AB700-SA1,4,11 Subscribed and sworn to before me this .... day of ...., A.D., ...., and I hereby certify that I am not a candidate on the ballot upon which the affiant voted (unless I am an incumbent municipal clerk), that the voting procedure above was executed as therein stated, and that the affiant was not solicited or advised by me to vote for or against any candidate or measure.

AB700-SA1,4,12 ....(Name)

AB700-SA1,4,13 ....(Title)

AB700-SA1,4,14 ....(State or nation)".

AB700-SA1,4,15 8. Page 45, line 23: delete "certificate-affidavit" and substitute "certificate".

AB700-SA1,4,16 9. Page 46, line 1: delete "affidavit or the".

AB700-SA1,4,17 10. Page 46, line 3: delete "certificate-affidavit" and substitute "certificate".

AB700-SA1,4,19 11. Page 46, line 7: delete the material beginning with that line and ending page 47, line 2, and substitute:

AB700-SA1,4,20 " Section 98p. 6.87 (4) of the statutes is amended to read:

AB700-SA1,5,16 6.87 (4) Except as otherwise provided in s. 6.875, the elector voting absentee shall either make and subscribe to the affidavit before a person authorized to administer oaths or make and subscribe to the certification before 2 witnesses one witness. The absent elector, in the presence of the administrator of the oath or witnesses witness, shall mark or punch the ballot in a manner that will not disclose how the elector's vote is cast. The elector shall then, still in the presence of the administrator of the oath or the 2 witnesses witness, fold the ballots if they are paper ballots so each is separate and so that the elector conceals the markings or punches thereon and deposit them in the proper envelope, but. If a consolidated ballot under s. 5.655 is used, the elector shall fold the ballot if it is a paper ballot so that the elector conceals the markings thereon and deposit the ballot in the proper envelope. The elector may receive assistance under sub. (5). The return envelope shall then be sealed. The witnesses or the official oath administrator witness may not be a candidate. The envelope shall be mailed by the elector, postage prepaid, or delivered in person, to the municipal clerk issuing the ballot or ballots. Failure to return an unused ballot in a primary does not invalidate the ballot on which the elector's votes are cast. Return of more than one marked or punched ballot in a primary or return of a ballot prepared under s. 5.655 or a ballot used with an electronic voting system in a primary which is marked or punched for candidates of more than one party invalidates all votes cast by the elector for candidates in the primary.

AB700-SA1, s. 99m Section 99m. 6.87 (7) of the statutes is amended to read:

AB700-SA1,5,22 6.87 (7) No individual who is a candidate at the election in which absentee ballots are cast may administer the oath or serve as a witness. Any candidate who administers the oath or serves as a witness shall be penalized by the discounting of a number of votes for his or her candidacy equal to the number of certificate-affidavit certificate envelopes bearing his or her signature.

AB700-SA1, s. 100m Section 100m. 6.87 (8) of the statutes is amended to read:

AB700-SA1,6,3 6.87 (8) The provisions of this section which prohibit candidates from assisting or administering the oath to serving as a witness for absentee electors shall not apply to the municipal clerk in the performance of the clerk's official duties.

AB700-SA1, s. 101m Section 101m. 6.87 (9) of the statutes is amended to read:

AB700-SA1,6,10 6.87 (9) If a municipal clerk receives an absentee ballot with an improperly completed certificate-affidavit certificate or with no certificate-affidavit certificate, the clerk may return the ballot to the elector, inside the sealed envelope when an envelope is received, together with a new envelope if necessary, whenever time permits the elector to correct the defect and return the ballot within the period prescribed in sub. (6).".

AB700-SA1,6,12 12. Page 50, line 13: delete "certificate-affidavit" and substitute "certificate-affidavit certificate".

AB700-SA1,6,13 13. Page 51, line 4: delete "or affidavit".

AB700-SA1,6,14 14. Page 51, line 5: delete "certificate-affidavit" and substitute "certificate".

AB700-SA1,6,15 15. Page 51, line 6: delete "or affidavit".

AB700-SA1,6,17 16. Page 51, line 20: delete the material beginning with that line and ending with page 52, line 11, and substitute:

AB700-SA1,6,18 " Section 108m. 6.88 (3) (a) of the statutes is amended to read:

AB700-SA1,7,8 6.88 (3) (a) Any time between the opening and closing of the polls on election day, the inspectors shall open the carrier envelope only, and announce the absent elector's name. When the inspectors find that the certification or affidavit has been properly executed, the applicant is a qualified elector of the ward or election district, and the applicant has not voted in the election, they shall enter an indication on the poll or registration list next to the applicant's name indicating an absentee ballot is cast by the elector. They shall then open the envelope containing the ballot in a manner so as not to deface or destroy the affidavit or certification thereon. The inspectors shall take out the ballot without unfolding it or permitting it to be unfolded or examined. Unless the ballot is cast under s. 6.95, the inspectors shall verify that the ballot has been endorsed by the issuing clerk. The inspectors shall deposit the ballot in into the proper ballot box and enter the absent elector's name or voting number after his or her name on the poll or registration list the same as if the elector had been present and voted in person.

AB700-SA1, s. 109p Section 109p. 6.88 (3) (b) of the statutes is amended to read:

AB700-SA1,7,25 6.88 (3) (b) When the inspectors find that an affidavit or a certification is insufficient, that the applicant is not a qualified elector in the ward or election district, that the ballot envelope is open or has been opened and resealed, or that the ballot envelope contains more than one ballot of any one kind or that the certificate of an elector who received an absentee ballot by facsimile transmission or electronic mail is missing, or if proof is submitted to the inspectors that an elector voting an absentee ballot has since died, the inspectors shall not count the ballot. The inspectors shall endorse every ballot not counted on the back, "rejected (giving the reason)". The inspectors shall reinsert each rejected ballot into the affidavit certificate envelope in which it was delivered and enclose the affidavit certificate envelopes and ballots, and securely seal the ballots and envelopes in an envelope marked for rejected absentee ballots. The inspectors shall endorse the envelope, "rejected ballots" with a statement of the ward or election district and date of the election, signed by the chief inspector and one of the inspectors representing each of the 2 major political parties and returned to the municipal clerk in the same manner as official ballots voted at the election.".

AB700-SA1,8,1 17. Page 60, line 24: after that line insert:

AB700-SA1,8,2 " Section 128m. 7.51 (3) (d) of the statutes is amended to read:

AB700-SA1,8,9 7.51 (3) (d) All absentee certificate-affidavit certificate envelopes which have been opened shall be returned by the inspectors to the municipal clerk in a securely sealed carrier envelope which is clearly marked "used absentee certificate-affidavit certificate envelopes". The envelopes shall be signed by the chief inspector and 2 other inspectors. Except when the ballots are used in a municipal or school district election only, the municipal clerk shall transmit the used envelopes to the county clerk.".

AB700-SA1,8,10 18. Page 81, line 15: delete lines 15 to 24 and substitute:

AB700-SA1,8,11 " Section 166p. 9.01 (1) (b) 2. of the statutes is amended to read:

AB700-SA1,8,20 9.01 (1) (b) 2. The board of canvassers shall then examine the absentee ballot envelopes. Any defective absentee ballot envelopes shall be laid aside, properly marked and carefully preserved. The number of voters shall be reduced by the number of ballot envelopes set aside under this subdivision. An absentee ballot envelope is defective only if it is neither sworn nor not witnessed, or if it is not signed by the voter or if the affidavit supporting the absentee ballot envelope has such a number of technical errors that the board of canvassers is doubtful of the legal effect of the affidavit certificate accompanying an absentee ballot that the voter received by facsimile transmission or electronic mail is missing.".

AB700-SA1,8,21 (End)