LRB-0632/1
TKK:cjs:jm
2013 - 2014 LEGISLATURE
February 15, 2013 - Introduced by Representatives Pridemore, Murphy and
Weatherston, cosponsored by Senator Grothman. Referred to Committee on
Campaigns and Elections.
AB18,1,3 1An Act to amend 7.30 (2) (a) and (b), 7.30 (4) (b) 1., 7.30 (4) (b) 2. and 7.30 (4)
2(e); and to create 227.52 (8) of the statutes; relating to: appointment and
3residency of election officials.
Analysis by the Legislative Reference Bureau
Currently, election officials are generally required to be qualified electors of the
municipality in which the officials serve. In addition, election officials who serve at
a polling place are generally required to be qualified electors of the ward for which
the polling place is established, whenever a municipality is divided into wards.
However, certain election officials need not be electors of any particular ward but
must be qualified electors of the municipality in which they serve: special
registration deputies who register electors at a polling place on election day; election
officials who are appointed to work at a polling place that serves more than one ward;
election officials who are reassigned by a municipal clerk or board of election
commissioners to correct staffing deficiencies; and election officials who are
appointed to fill a temporary or permanent vacancy. If the municipal clerk or the
executive director of a board of election commissioners or a deputy to the clerk or
executive director serves as a special registration deputy or is appointed to work at
a polling place to fill a vacancy in an inspector position, the clerk, executive director,
or deputy need not be a resident of the municipality in which he or she serves.
Officials who are appointed to work at a polling place that serves more than one ward
must be electors of one of the wards served by the polling place. In addition, a high
school pupil who is 16 or 17 years of age may serve as an inspector (poll worker) at
the polling place serving his or her residence.

Currently, political party officers may submit the names of nominees to serve
as election officials, other than as special registration deputies, at polling places. If
no nominations or insufficient nominations are submitted, municipalities may
appoint election officials on a nonpartisan basis. Twice as many nominations are
submitted as there are positions to be filled. Any nominee may be designated as a
first choice nominee, and a municipality must appoint a first choice nominee unless
the Government Accountability Board (GAB) permits nonappointment for good
cause shown.
This bill provides that an individual who serves as an election official at a
polling place on election day need be an elector only of a county in which the
municipality where the official serves is located, except as the law currently permits
the individual to reside elsewhere. The bill makes no change, however, to the
residency requirement applicable to a high school pupil who serves as an inspector.
The bill also permits, for up to 50 percent of the positions to be filled, a political
party officer to specify the ward for which an individual is nominated to serve. The
bill requires municipalities to appoint individuals who are nominated to serve in a
specified ward in the ward for which they are nominated for at least 50 percent of the
positions to be filled, unless GAB or the attorney general permits nonappointment
for good cause shown. The bill permits a nominee whose nonappointment is
authorized by GAB to appeal the decision of GAB to the attorney general, who may
affirm or reverse the decision of GAB.
The people of the state of Wisconsin, represented in senate and assembly, do
enact as follows:
AB18,1 1Section 1. 7.30 (2) (a) and (b) of the statutes are amended to read:
AB18,3,182 7.30 (2) (a) Only election officials appointed under this section or s. 6.875 may
3conduct an election. Except as otherwise provided in this paragraph and in ss. 7.15
4(1) (k) and
s. 7.52 (1) (b), each election official shall be a qualified elector of the ward
5or wards, or the election district, for
a county in which the polling place is established.
6A special registration deputy who is appointed under s. 6.55 (6) or an election official
7who is appointed under this section to fill a vacancy under par. (b) need not be a
8resident of the ward or wards, or the election district, but shall be a resident of the

9municipality where the official serves is located, except that if a municipal clerk or
10deputy clerk serves as a registration deputy or is appointed to fill a vacancy under
11par. (b), the clerk or deputy clerk need not be a resident of the municipality such a

1county
, but shall be a resident of the state. No more than 2 individuals holding the
2office of clerk or deputy clerk may serve without regard to municipal county
3residency in any municipality at any election. Special registration deputies who are
4appointed under s. 6.55 (6) may be appointed to serve more than one polling place.
5All officials appointed under this section shall be able to read and write the English
6language, be capable, and be of good understanding, and may not be a candidate for
7any office to be voted for at an election at which they serve. In 1st class cities, they
8may hold no public office other than notary public. Except as authorized under subs.
9(1) (b) and (4) (c), all inspectors shall be affiliated with one of the 2 recognized political
10parties which received the largest number of votes for president, or governor in
11nonpresidential general election years, in the ward or combination of wards served
12by the polling place at the last election. Excluding the inspector who may be
13appointed under sub. (1) (b), the party which received the largest number of votes is
14entitled to one more inspector than the party receiving the next largest number of
15votes at each polling place. Election officials appointed under this section may serve
16the electors of more than one ward where wards are combined under s. 5.15 (6) (b).
17If a municipality is not divided into wards, the ward requirements in this paragraph
18apply to the municipality at large.
AB18,4,919 (b) When a vacancy occurs in an office under this section, the vacancy shall be
20filled by appointment of the municipal clerk. Unless the vacancy occurs in the
21position of an inspector appointed under sub. (1) (b), the vacancy shall be filled from
22the remaining names on the lists submitted under sub. (4) or from additional names
23submitted by the chairperson of the county party committee of the appropriate party
24under sub. (4) whenever names are submitted under sub. (4) (d). If the vacancy is
25due to candidacy, sickness, or any other temporary cause, the appointment shall be

1a temporary appointment and effective only for the election at which the temporary
2vacancy occurs. The same qualifications that applied to original appointees shall be
3required of persons who fill vacancies except that a vacancy may be filled in cases
4of emergency or because of time limitations by a person who resides in another
5aldermanic district or ward within the municipality, and
if a municipal clerk or
6deputy clerk meets the other qualifications and fills the vacancy, the clerk or deputy,
7but not more than a total of 2 individuals in any municipality, may serve without
8regard to the clerk's or deputy's municipality county of residence, if the clerk or
9deputy meets the other qualifications
.
AB18,2 10Section 2. 7.30 (4) (b) 1. of the statutes is amended to read:
AB18,5,711 7.30 (4) (b) 1. In cities where there is a board of election commissioners, the
12aldermanic district committeemen or committeewomen committee members under
13s. 8.17 of each of the 2 dominant recognized political parties shall submit a certified
14list no later than November 30 of each odd-numbered year containing the names of
15at least as many nominees as there are inspectors from that party for each of the
16voting wards in the aldermanic district. The committee members shall include the
17address of each nominee in the list and may, for not more than 50 percent of the
18positions to be filled, specify the ward for which the nominee is nominated to serve.

19For inspectors serving under s. 7.52 (1) (b), the aldermanic district committeemen
20and committeewomen
committee members under s. 8.17 of the 2 dominant
21recognized political parties shall jointly submit a certified list of nominees containing
22at least twice as many nominees as there are inspectors from that party who are to
23be appointed under s. 7.52 (1) (b). The chairperson may designate any individual
24whose name is submitted as a first choice nominee. The board of election
25commissioners shall appoint, no later than December 31 of odd-numbered years, at

1least 5 inspectors for each ward. The board of election commissioners shall appoint
2all first choice nominees and, for at least 50 percent of the positions being filled, shall
3appoint those nominees who are nominated to serve at the polling place for a
4specified ward to serve at the polling place for that ward
for so long as positions are
5available, unless nonappointment is authorized under par. (e), and. The board of
6election commissioners
shall appoint other individuals in its discretion. The board
7of election commissioners
and may designate such alternates as it deems advisable.
AB18,3 8Section 3. 7.30 (4) (b) 2. of the statutes is amended to read:
AB18,6,29 7.30 (4) (b) 2. a. In municipalities a municipality other than cities and villages
10a city or village located in counties a county having a population of more than
11500,000, the committees each committee organized under s. 8.17 from each of the 2
12dominant parties described under sub. (2) shall submit a list containing at least as
13many names as there are needed appointees from that party. The list shall be
14submitted by the
chairperson of each of the 2 committees shall submit the list to the
15mayor, president, or chairperson of the municipality. If committees are organized in
16subdivisions of a city, the list shall be submitted through the chairperson of the city
17committee shall submit the list. If there is no municipal committee, the list shall be
18submitted by the
chairperson of the county or legislative district committee shall
19submit the list. The appropriate committee or chairperson shall include the address
20of each nominee and the municipality for which the nominee is nominated to serve
21in the list and may, for not more than 50 percent of the positions to be filled within
22a municipality, specify the ward, if any, for which the nominee is nominated to serve
.
23Except as provided in par. (c), only those persons submitted by the chairperson of
24each committee under s. 8.17 may act as election officials. The chairperson may
25designate any individual whose name is submitted as a first choice nominee. The list

1shall contain the signature of the
chairperson and secretary of the submitting
2committee shall sign the list.
AB18,7,43 b. In cities a city or villages village located in counties a county having a
4population of more than 500,000, other than cities a city where there is a board of
5election commissioners, the aldermanic district or village committeeman or
6committeewoman
committee member for the ward or wards where each polling place
7is located, if there is one, or, for inspectors serving to be appointed under s. 7.52 (1)
8(b), the committeemen and committeewomen committee members for the
9municipality acting jointly, shall submit a list containing at least as many names as
10there are needed appointees for inspector positions from the party represented by the
11committeeman or committeewoman committee member or by the committeemen and
12committeewomen
committee members acting jointly. For appointments of
13Nominations for inspectors to be appointed in cities and villages a city or village
14where there is no aldermanic district or village committeeman or committeewoman,
15nominations
committee member shall proceed in the same manner as in
16municipalities a municipality located in counties a county having a population of
17500,000 or less. The list appropriate committee member, committee members, or
18chairperson
shall be submitted submit the list to the mayor or president. The
19appropriate committee member, committee members, or chairperson shall include
20the address of each nominee and the municipality for which the nominee is
21nominated to serve in the list and may, for not more than 50 percent of the positions
22to be filled within a municipality, specify the ward, if any, for which the nominee is
23nominated to serve.
Except as provided in par. (c), only those persons whose names
24are submitted as provided in this paragraph may act as election officials. The
25committeeman or committeewoman appropriate committee member, committee

1members, or chairperson
may designate any individual whose name is submitted as
2a first choice nominee. The list shall contain the signature of the committee member
3of the
aldermanic district or village committeeman or committeewoman or the
4chairperson of the appropriate committee shall sign the list.
AB18,7,145 c. Upon submission of each nominee's name, the governing body shall appoint
6each first choice nominee for so long as positions are available, unless
7nonappointment is authorized under par. (e), and shall appoint other nominees in its
8discretion. In addition, for at least 50 percent of the positions being filled, the
9governing body shall appoint those nominees who are nominated to serve at the
10polling place for a specified ward to serve at the polling place for that ward, unless
11nonappointment is authorized under par. (e).
If any nominee is not appointed, the
12mayor, president, or chairperson of the municipality shall immediately nominate
13another person from the appropriate lists submitted and continue until the
14necessary number of election officials from each party is achieved at that meeting.
AB18,4 15Section 4. 7.30 (4) (e) of the statutes is amended to read:
AB18,7,2416 7.30 (4) (e) If an appointing authority believes that, for good cause, it should
17not appoint an individual whose name is submitted as a first choice nominee under
18par. (b) or it should not appoint an individual who is nominated as an inspector for
19a specified ward to serve in the ward specified
, it may request the board to authorize
20nonappointment. The board or the attorney general may permit nonappointment of
21an individual for cause demonstrated by an appointing authority. If the board finds
22that there is good cause for nonappointment of an individual, the individual may,
23within 30 days of issuance of the board's decision, appeal the decision of the board
24to the attorney general, who may affirm or reverse the decision of the board.
AB18,5 25Section 5. 227.52 (8) of the statutes is created to read:
AB18,8,2
1227.52 (8) Decisions of the government accountability board under s. 7.30 (4)
2(e) that are subject to appeal to the attorney general.
AB18,8,33 (End)
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