AB47: Bill Text

AB47, s. 14 Section 14. 5.91 (6) of the statutes is repealed.

AB47, s. 15 Section 15. 6.80 (2) (am) of the statutes is amended to read:

AB47,9,16 6.80 (2) (am) In partisan primaries, an elector may vote for a person as the candidate of the party of the elector's choice, if that person's name does not appear on the official ballot of that party, by writing in the name of the person in the space provided on the ballot or the ballot provided for that purpose, or where voting machines are used, in the irregular ballot device, designating the party for which the elector desires such person to be the nominee.

AB47, s. 16 Section 16. 6.80 (2) (f) of the statutes is amended to read:

AB47,9,25 6.80 (2) (f) In the presidential preference primary and other partisan primary elections at polling places where ballots are distributed to electors, unless the ballots are prepared under s. 5.655 or are utilized with an electronic voting system in which all candidates appear on the same ballot, after the elector prepares his or her ballot the elector shall detach the remaining ballots, fold the ballots to be discarded and fold the completed ballot unless the ballot is intended for counting with automatic tabulating equipment. The elector shall then either personally deposit the ballots to be discarded into the separate ballot box marked "blank ballot box", and deposit the completed ballot into the ballot box indicated by the inspectors, or give the ballots to the inspector who shall deposit the ballots directly into the appropriate ballot boxes. The inspectors shall keep the blank ballot box locked until the canvass is completed and shall dispose of the blank ballots as prescribed by the municipal clerk.

AB47, s. 17 Section 17. 6.87 (4) of the statutes is amended to read:

AB47,10,22 6.87 (4) Except as otherwise provided in s. 6.875, the elector voting absentee shall make and subscribe to the certification before one witness. The absent elector, in the presence of the witness, shall mark 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 witness, fold the ballots if they are paper ballots so each is separate and so that the elector conceals the markings thereon and deposit them in the proper envelope. 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 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 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 for candidates of more than one party invalidates all votes cast by the elector for candidates in the primary.

AB47, s. 18 Section 18. 7.08 (2) (b) of the statutes is amended to read:

AB47,11,3 7.08 (2) (b) The certified list of candidates for president and vice president who have been nominated at a national convention by a party entitled to a separate column or row on the September primary ballot or for whom electors have been nominated under s. 8.20 shall be sent as soon as possible after the closing date for filing nomination papers, but no later than the deadlines established in s. 10.06.

AB47, s. 19 Section 19. 7.50 (1) (d) of the statutes is repealed.

AB47, s. 20 Section 20. 7.50 (2) (g) of the statutes is amended to read:

AB47,11,8 7.50 (2) (g) In partisan primaries, if an elector writes in the name of an individual on a ballot in a column or row other than the one on which that individual's name is shown as a candidate, the write-in vote may not be counted.

AB47, s. 21 Section 21. 8.16 (1), (6) and (7) of the statutes are amended to read:

AB47,11,16 8.16 (1) Except as provided in sub. (2), the person who receives the greatest number of votes for an office on a party ballot at any partisan primary, regardless of whether the person's name appears on the ballot, shall be the party's candidate for the office, and the person's name shall so appear on the official ballot at the next election. All independent candidates shall appear on the general election ballot regardless of the number of votes received by such candidates at the September primary.

AB47,11,20 (6) The persons who receive the greatest number of votes respectively for the offices of governor and lieutenant governor on for any party ballot at a primary shall be the party's joint candidates for the offices, and their names shall so appear on the official ballot at the next election.

AB47,12,2 (7) Nominees chosen at a national convention and under s. 8.18 (2) by each party entitled to a separate column or row on a September primary ballot shall be the party's candidates for president, vice president and presidential electors. The state or national chairperson of each such party shall certify the names of the party's nominees for president and vice president to the board no later than 5 p.m. on the first Tuesday in September preceding a presidential election. Each name shall be in one of the formats authorized in s. 7.08 (2) (a).

AB47, s. 22 Section 22. 8.17 (1) (a) of the statutes is amended to read:

AB47,12,21 8.17 (1) (a) Political parties qualifying for a separate column or row on the September primary ballot under s. 5.62 (1) (b) or (2) shall elect their party committeemen and committeewomen as provided under sub. (5) (b). The function of committeemen and committeewomen is to represent their neighborhoods in the structure of a political party. Committeemen and committeewomen shall act as liaison representatives between their parties and the residents of the election districts in which they serve. Activities of committeemen and committeewomen shall include, but not be limited to, voter identification; assistance in voter registration drives; increasing voter participation in political parties; polling and other methods of passing information from residents to political parties and elected public officials; and dissemination of information from public officials to residents. For assistance in those and other activities of interest to a political party, each committeeman and committeewoman may appoint a captain to engage in these activities in each ward, if the election district served by the committeeman or committeewoman includes more than one ward. In an election district which includes more than one ward, the committeeman or committeewoman shall coordinate the activities of the ward captains in promoting the interests of his or her party.

AB47, s. 23 Section 23. 8.20 (9) of the statutes is amended to read:

AB47,13,7 8.20 (9) Persons nominated by nomination papers without a recognized political party designation shall be placed on the official ballot at the general election and at any partisan election to the right or below the recognized political party candidates in their own column or row designated "Independent". At the September primary, persons nominated for state office by nomination papers without a recognized political party designation shall be placed on in a separate ballot column or row or, if a consolidated paper ballot under s. 5.655 (2), an electronic voting system or voting machines are used, in a column or row designated "Independent". If the candidate's name already appears under a recognized political party it may not be listed on the independent ballot, column or row.

AB47, s. 24 Section 24. 8.50 (3) (b) of the statutes is amended to read:

AB47,13,21 8.50 (3) (b) Except as otherwise provided in this section, the provisions for September primaries under s. 8.15 are applicable to all partisan primaries held under this section, and the provisions for spring primaries under s. 8.10 are applicable to all nonpartisan primaries held under this section. In a special partisan primary or election, the order of the parties on the ballot shall be the same as provided under s. 5.62 (1) or 5.64 (1) (b). Independent candidates for state office at a special partisan election shall not appear on the primary ballot. No primary is required for a nonpartisan election in which not more than 2 candidates for an office appear on the ballot or for a partisan election in which not more than one candidate for an office appears on in the ballot column or row of each recognized political party on the ballot. In every special election except a special election for nonpartisan state office where no candidate is certified to appear on the ballot, a space for write-in votes shall be provided on the ballot, regardless of whether a special primary is held.

AB47, s. 25 Section 25. 8.50 (3) (c) of the statutes is repealed.

AB47, s. 26 Section 26. 9.10 (3) (e) of the statutes is amended to read:

AB47,14,6 9.10 (3) (e) For any partisan office, a recall primary shall be held for each political party which is entitled to a separate column or row on the September primary ballot under s. 5.62 (1) (b) or (2) and from which more than one candidate competes for the party's nomination in the recall election. The primary ballot shall be prepared in accordance with s. 5.62, insofar as applicable. The person receiving the highest number of votes in the recall primary for each political party shall be that party's candidate in the recall election. Independent candidates shall be shown on the ballot for the recall election only.

AB47, s. 27 Section 27. 10.02 (3) (b) 2. and 2m. of the statutes are amended to read:

AB47,14,12 10.02 (3) (b) 2. At a special partisan primary, the elector shall select the party ballot candidate of his or her choice for each office and shall make a cross (8) next to or depress the lever or button next to the candidate's name for each office for whom the elector intends to vote, or shall insert or write in the name of the elector's choice for a candidate.

AB47,14,21 2m. At the September primary, the elector shall select the party ballot candidate of his or her choice or the ballot containing the names of the independent candidates for state each office, and make a cross (8 ) next to or depress the lever or button next to the candidate's name for each office for whom the elector intends to vote or insert or write in the name of the elector's choice for a party candidate, if any. In order to qualify for participation in the Wisconsin election campaign fund, a candidate for state office at the September primary, other than a candidate for district attorney, must receive at least 6% of all votes cast on all ballots for the office for which he or she is a candidate, in addition to other requirements.

AB47, s. 28 Section 28. 11.06 (7m) (a) of the statutes, as affected by 2001 Wisconsin Act 109, is amended to read:

AB47,15,13 11.06 (7m) (a) If a committee which was registered under s. 11.05 as a political party committee supporting candidates of a political party files an oath under sub. (7) affirming that it does not act in cooperation or consultation with any candidate who is nominated to appear on the party ballot in the column or row of the party at a general or special election, that the committee does not act in concert with, or at the request or suggestion of, such a candidate, that the committee does not act in cooperation or consultation with such a candidate or agent or authorized committee of such a candidate who benefits from a disbursement made in opposition to another candidate, and that the committee does not act in concert with, or at the request or suggestion of, such a candidate or agent or authorized committee of such a candidate who benefits from a disbursement made in opposition to another candidate, the committee filing the oath may not make any contributions in support of any candidate of the party at the general or special election or in opposition to any such candidate's opponents exceeding the applicable amounts specified in s. 11.26 (2) and (2m), except as authorized in par. (c).

AB47, s. 29 Section 29. 11.31 (3m) of the statutes is amended to read:

AB47,16,2 11.31 (3m) Unopposed candidates; exception. Notwithstanding subs. (1) and (2), if all candidates for state senator or representative to the assembly in a legislative district who are certified under s. 7.08 (2) (a) to appear in the columns or rows on the September primary ballot of all parties recognized under s. 5.62 (1) (b) or (2) have no opponent who is certified to appear on the same primary ballot, or if no primary is required for all candidates of parties recognized under s. 5.62 (1) (b) or (2) for state senator or representative to the assembly in a legislative district who are certified under s. 8.50 (1) (d) to appear on a special partisan election ballot, then the separate limitation specified in sub. (1) for disbursements during the primary and election period does not apply to candidates for that office in that primary and election, and the candidates are bound only by the total limitations specified for the primary and election.

AB47, s. 30 Section 30. 11.50 (1) (am) 2. of the statutes, as created by 2001 Wisconsin Act 109, is amended to read:

AB47,16,9 11.50 (1) (am) 2. A party qualifying under s. 5.62 (2) for a separate ballot or one or more separate columns or rows on a ballot for the period beginning on the preceding June 1, or if that June 1 is in an odd-numbered year, the period beginning on June 1 of the preceding even-numbered year, and ending on May 31 of the 2nd year following that June 1.

AB47, s. 31 Section 31. 15.61 of the statutes is amended to read:

AB47,16,18 15.61 Elections board; creation. There is created an elections board consisting of persons who shall be appointed by the governor for 2-year terms as follows: one member selected by the governor; one member each designated by the chief justice of the supreme court, the speaker of the assembly, the senate majority leader, the minority leader in each house of the legislature, and the chief officer of each political party qualifying for a separate column or row on the September primary ballot under s. 5.62 (1) (b) or (2) whose candidate for governor received at least 10% of the vote in the most recent gubernatorial election.

AB47, s. 32 Section 32. Initial applicability.

AB47,16,21 (1) This act first applies with respect to voting at the 2004 September primary election.

AB47, s. 33 Section 33. Effective dates. This act takes effect on the day after publication, except as follows:

AB47,17,2 (1) The treatment of sections 11.06 (7m) (a) and 11.50 (1) (am) 2. of the statutes takes effect on July 1, 2003, or on the day after publication, whichever is later.

AB47,17,3 (End)