2021 - 2022 LEGISLATURE
SENATE SUBSTITUTE AMENDMENT 1,
TO SENATE BILL 205
May 3, 2021 - Offered by Senator Stroebel.
SB205-SSA1,1,4 1An Act to renumber 6.875 (4) (b); to amend 6.875 (6) (c) 2., 7.03 (1) (d), 7.315
2(1) (a) and 12.60 (1) (a); and to create 6.875 (4) (b) 2., 6.875 (8), 6.875 (9) and
312.13 (3m) of the statutes; relating to: absentee voting in certain residential
4care facilities and retirement homes and providing a penalty.
Analysis by the Legislative Reference Bureau
Under current law, a municipal clerk is required, under certain circumstances,
to dispatch special voting deputies to a residential care facility or qualified
retirement home so that the occupants of the facility or home may cast an absentee
ballot in person with the special voting deputies rather than vote in person at the
appropriate polling place or request and complete an absentee ballot by mail. Under
current law, a retirement home is a facility occupied as a primary residence by 10 or
more unrelated individuals. A qualified retirement home is a retirement home that
has a significant number of occupants who lack adequate transportation to the
polling place, need assistance in voting, are aged 60 or over, or are indefinitely
confined.
Current law requires a municipality that appoints special voting deputies to
appoint at least two special voting deputies for the municipality and the deputies
must be eligible voters of the county where the municipality is located. In addition,
the two deputies designated to visit each qualified retirement home and residential

care facility must be affiliated with different political parties whenever deputies
representing different parties are available. Current law prohibits individuals
employed at a residential care facility or qualified retirement home in the
municipality, or any member of the individual's immediate family, from serving as
a special voting deputy.
Under this bill, the municipal clerk may appoint any individual who is
employed at a residential care facility or qualified retirement home in the
municipality to serve as an absentee voting assistant to assist in the procedures for
voting at the home or facility in lieu of or in addition to special voting deputies. An
absentee voting assistant may carry out the same duties as a special voting deputy
and must be an eligible voter of the county where the home or facility is located. An
absentee voting assistant must complete a two-hour online training prescribed by
the Elections Commission and take the same oath of office as a special voting deputy
appointed under current law. In addition, the two absentee voting assistants
appointed to each facility or home must be affiliated with different political parties
whenever assistants representing different parties are available.
Under current law, the special voting deputies must arrange with the
administrator of the qualified retirement home or residential care facility one or
more convenient times to visit the home or facility. The administrator of the home
or facility may, upon the request of a relative of an occupant of the home or facility
notify the relative of the time or times at which special voting deputies will conduct
absentee voting at the home or facility.
This bill requires the administrator to provide notice of the dates and times
when the deputies or absentee voting assistants will be assisting voters at the home
or facility to the relatives for whom the home or facility has contact information for
each occupant who intends to vote by absentee ballot with the special voting deputies
or absentee voting assistants.
The bill also provides that an employee of a qualified retirement home or
residential care facility who coerces an occupant of the home or facility to apply for
or not apply for an absentee ballot or cast or refrain from casting a ballot or who
coerces an occupant to cast a ballot for or against a particular candidate or ballot
question is guilty of a Class I felony.
Finally, under the bill, after completion of the absentee voting procedures at a
qualified retirement home or residential care facility, the municipal clerk must
examine no fewer than 10 percent of the absentee ballot envelopes and attached
certificates of the ballots returned from the home or facility and attempt to contact
each voter identified on the certificates to verify that the voters intended to cast their
ballots in the election. If the clerk is unable to contact the voter, the voter is presumed
to have intended to cast his or her ballot. However, if the clerk contacts the voter and
determines that the voter did not intend to cast his or her ballot, the ballot will not
be counted.
The people of the state of Wisconsin, represented in senate and assembly, do
enact as follows:
SB205-SSA1,1
1Section 1. 6.875 (4) (b) of the statutes is renumbered 6.875 (4) (b) 1.
SB205-SSA1,2 2Section 2 . 6.875 (4) (b) 2. of the statutes is created to read:
SB205-SSA1,3,73 6.875 (4) (b) 2. No individual who is employed or retained at a qualified
4retirement home or residential care facility in the municipality who is not an
5absentee voting assistant appointed under sub. (8) may assist an occupant of the
6home or facility in requesting, completing, or returning the occupant's absentee
7ballot.
SB205-SSA1,3 8Section 3. 6.875 (6) (c) 2. of the statutes is amended to read:
SB205-SSA1,3,209 6.875 (6) (c) 2. Upon the request of a relative of an occupant of a qualified
10retirement home or residential care facility, the administrator of the home or facility
11may notify the relative of the time or times at which special voting deputies will
12conduct absentee voting at the home or facility and permit the
The administrator of
13a qualified retirement home or residential care facility shall provide notice of the
14dates and times when the deputies or absentee voting assistants appointed under
15sub. (8) will be facilitating absentee voting at the home or facility to each relative of
16an occupant for whom the home or facility has contact information, if the occupant
17intends to vote by absentee ballot with the special voting deputies or absentee voting
18assistants. The administrator may provide the same notice to any other relative of
19the occupant upon request. The
relative to may be present in the room where the
20voting is conducted.
SB205-SSA1,4 21Section 4 . 6.875 (8) of the statutes is created to read:
SB205-SSA1,4,222 6.875 (8) (a) The municipal clerk or board of election commissioners of each
23municipality in which one or more qualified retirement homes or residential care
24facilities are located may appoint any individual who is employed or retained at a
25qualified retirement home or residential care facility in the municipality to serve as

1an absentee voting assistant to assist in the procedures for voting at the home or
2facility in lieu of or in addition to special voting deputies appointed under sub. (4) (a).
SB205-SSA1,4,73 (b) Absentee voting assistants appointed under par. (a) shall comply with the
4duties for special voting deputies under this section and complete a 2-hour online
5training, as prescribed by the commission under s. 7.315 (1) (a). An absentee voting
6assistant appointed under par. (a) shall be a qualified elector of the county where the
7municipality is located.
SB205-SSA1,4,208 (c) Prior to entering upon his or her duties, each individual appointed to serve
9as an absentee voting assistant under par. (a) shall file the oath required by s. 7.30
10(5). In the oath, the individual shall swear that he or she is qualified to act as an
11absentee voting assistant under this subsection, that he or she has read the statutes
12governing absentee voting, that he or she understands the proper absentee voting
13procedure, that he or she understands the penalties for noncompliance with the
14procedure under s. 12.13, and that his or her sacred obligation will be to fully and
15fairly implement the absentee voting law and seek to have the intent of the electors
16ascertained. In addition, the oath shall state that the individual realizes that any
17error in conducting the voting procedure may result in invalidation of an elector's
18vote under s. 7.51 (2) (e) and that the individual realizes that absentee voting is a
19privilege and not a constitutional right. The form of the oath shall be prescribed by
20the commission.
SB205-SSA1,5,221 (d) The municipal clerk or board of election commissioners shall appoint at
22least 2 individuals employed or retained by the qualified retirement home or
23residential care facility to serve as absentee voting assistants under par. (a). The 2
24absentee voting assistants for each home or facility shall be affiliated with different

1political parties whenever absentee voting assistants representing different parties
2are available.
SB205-SSA1,5 3Section 5. 6.875 (9) of the statutes is created to read:
SB205-SSA1,5,174 6.875 (9) After completion of the absentee voting procedures under this section
5at a qualified retirement home or residential care facility in the municipality, the
6municipal clerk or board of election commissioners shall inspect no fewer than 10
7percent of the absentee ballot return envelopes and attached certificates received
8from each such home and facility and attempt to contact the electors identified on the
9certificates to verify that the electors intended to cast their ballots in the election.
10If the municipal clerk or board of election commissioners is unable to contact an
11elector, the elector is presumed to have intended to cast his or her ballot. If the
12municipal clerk or board of election commissioner contacts an elector and the elector
13indicates that he or she did not intend to cast a ballot in the election, the ballot shall
14not be counted and, instead, shall be set aside, along with an incident report
15completed by the clerk or board. All ballots not counted as provided under this
16subsection, and the incident reports related thereto, shall be securely stored
17separately from all other ballots and reports.
SB205-SSA1,6 18Section 6 . 7.03 (1) (d) of the statutes is amended to read:
SB205-SSA1,5,2319 7.03 (1) (d) Except as otherwise provided in par. (a), special voting deputies
20appointed under s. 6.875 (4), absentee voting assistants appointed under s. 6.875 (8),
21and other officials and trainees who attend training sessions under s. 6.875 (8) (a)
222.,
7.15 (1) (e), or 7.25 (5) may also be compensated by the municipality where they
23serve at the option of the municipality.
SB205-SSA1,7 24Section 7 . 7.315 (1) (a) of the statutes is amended to read:
SB205-SSA1,6,4
17.315 (1) (a) The commission shall, by rule, prescribe the contents of the
2training that municipal clerks must provide to inspectors, other than chief
3inspectors, and to special voting deputies appointed under s. 6.875 (4), and to
4absentee voting assistants appointed under s. 6.875 (8)
.
SB205-SSA1,8 5Section 8. 12.13 (3m) of the statutes is created to read:
SB205-SSA1,6,116 12.13 (3m) Absentee voting in certain residential care facilities and
7retirement homes
. No employee of a qualified retirement home, as defined in s.
86.875 (1) (at), or residential care facility, as defined in s. 6.875 (1) (bm), may coerce
9an occupant of the home or facility to apply for or not apply for an absentee ballot or
10cast or refrain from casting a ballot or coerce an occupant to cast a ballot for or against
11a particular candidate or ballot question.
SB205-SSA1,9 12Section 9. 12.60 (1) (a) of the statutes is amended to read:
SB205-SSA1,6,1413 12.60 (1) (a) Whoever violates s. 12.09, 12.11 or 12.13 (1), (2) (b) 1. to 7. or, (3)
14(a), (e), (f), (j), (k), (L), (m), (y) or (z), or (3m) is guilty of a Class I felony.
Loading...
Loading...