SB173: Bill Text

LRB-1543/1

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2013 - 2014 LEGISLATURE

2013 Senate BILL 173

May 8, 2013 - Introduced by Senators Risser, Harris, Miller, L. Taylor, Lehman and T. Cullen, cosponsored by Representatives Genrich, Berceau, Hesselbein, Hulsey, Sargent, Hebl, Bernard Schaber, Young, Kessler, Ringhand, Wachs, Goyke, Hintz, C. Taylor and Ohnstad. Referred to Elections and Urban Affairs.

SB173,1,5 An Act to amend 6.02 (1) and (2), 6.10 (3), 6.10 (4), 6.15 (1), 6.15 (2) (a), 6.18, 6.22 (7), 6.29 (2) (a), 6.33 (1), 6.40 (1) (a) 1., 6.55 (2) (a) 1., 6.85 (2), 6.86 (1) (b), 6.87 (2), 6.94 and 7.52 (5) (b) of the statutes; relating to: durational residency requirement for voting and deadlines for late registration and absentee voting in person.

Analysis by the Legislative Reference Bureau

Under current law, with certain limited exceptions, an individual must be a resident of this state and of the municipality and ward, if any, where the individual will vote for 28 consecutive days before an election to be eligible to vote in the election. This bill decreases the durational residency requirement to ten consecutive days. An individual who does not satisfy the ten-day residency requirement at his or her current location but who resided at another location in this state in the nine-day period preceding the election may vote absentee in the ward or municipality from which he or she moved if the individual is otherwise qualified to vote in that ward or municipality.

Currently, the deadline for late registration made in person and at the office of a municipal clerk or board of election commissioners to vote in an election is 5 p.m. or the close of business, whichever is later, on the Friday before the election. The deadline for absentee voting in person at the office of a municipal clerk or board of election commissioners is also 5 p.m. or the close of business, whichever is later, on the Friday before the election. This bill moves both of these deadlines to the day before the election.

The people of the state of Wisconsin, represented in senate and assembly, do enact as follows:

SB173,1 Section 1. 6.02 (1) and (2) of the statutes are amended to read:

SB173,2,4 6.02 (1) Every U.S. citizen age 18 or older who has resided in an election district or ward for 28 10 consecutive days before any election where the citizen offers to vote is an eligible elector.

SB173,2,9 (2) Any U.S. citizen age 18 or older who moves within this state later than 28 10 days before an election shall vote at his or her previous ward or election district if the person is otherwise qualified. If the elector can comply with the 28-day 10-day residence requirement at the new address and is otherwise qualified, he or she may vote in the new ward or election district.

SB173,2 Section 2. 6.10 (3) of the statutes is amended to read:

SB173,2,18 6.10 (3) When an elector moves his or her residence from one ward or municipality to another ward or municipality within the state at least 28 10 days before the election, the elector may vote in and be considered a resident of the new ward or municipality where residing upon transferring registration under s. 6.40 (1) or upon registering at the proper polling place or other registration location in the new ward or municipality under s. 6.55 (2) or 6.86 (3) (a) 2. If the elector moves his or her residence later than 28 10 days before an election, the elector shall vote in the elector's former ward or municipality if otherwise qualified to vote there.

SB173,3 Section 3. 6.10 (4) of the statutes is amended to read:

SB173,3,9 6.10 (4) The residence of an unmarried person sleeping in one ward and boarding in another is the place where the person sleeps. The residence of an unmarried person in a transient vocation, a teacher or a student who boards at different places for part of the week, month, or year, if one of the places is the residence of the person's parents, is the place of the parents' residence unless through registration or similar act the person elects to establish a residence elsewhere. If the person has no parents and if the person has not registered elsewhere, the person's residence shall be at the place that the person considered his or her residence in preference to any other for at least 28 10 consecutive days before an election. If this place is within the municipality, the person is entitled to all the privileges and subject to all the duties of other citizens having their residence there, including voting.

SB173,4 Section 4. 6.15 (1) of the statutes is amended to read:

SB173,3,16 6.15 (1) Qualifications. Any person who was or who is an eligible elector under ss. 6.02 and 6.03, except that he or she has been a resident of this state for less than 28 10 consecutive days prior to the date of the presidential election, is entitled to vote for the president and vice president but for no other offices. The fact that the person was not registered to vote in the state from which he or she moved does not prevent voting in this state if the elector is otherwise qualified.

SB173,5 Section 5. 6.15 (2) (a) of the statutes is amended to read:

SB173,3,25 6.15 (2) (a) The elector's request for the application form may be made in person to the municipal clerk of the municipality where the person resides. Application may be made not sooner than 27 9 days nor later than 5 p.m. on the day before the election, or may be made at the proper polling place in the ward or election district in which the elector resides. If an elector makes application before election day, the application form shall be returned to the municipal clerk after the affidavit has been signed in the presence of the clerk or any officer authorized by law to administer oaths. The affidavit shall be in substantially the following form:

SB173,4,1 STATE OF WISCONSIN

SB173,4,2 County of ....

SB173,4,13 I, ...., do solemnly swear that I am a citizen of the United States; that prior to establishing Wisconsin residence, my legal residence was in the .... (town) (village) (city) of ...., state of ...., residing at .... (street address); that on the day of the next presidential election, I shall be at least 18 years of age and that I have been a legal resident of the state of Wisconsin since ...., .... (year), residing at .... (street address), in the [.... ward of the .... aldermanic district of] the (town) (village) (city) of ...., county of ....; that I have resided in the state less than 28 10 consecutive days, that I am qualified to vote for president and vice president at the election to be held November ...., .... (year), that I am not voting at any other place in this election and that I hereby make application for an official presidential ballot, in accordance with section 6.15 of the Wisconsin statutes.

SB173,4,14 Signed ....

SB173,4,15 P.O. Address ....

SB173,4,16 Subscribed and sworn to before me this .... day of ...., .... (year)

SB173,4,17 ....(Name)

SB173,4,18 ....(Title)

SB173,6 Section 6. 6.18 of the statutes is amended to read:

SB173,5,10 6.18 Former residents. If ineligible to qualify as an elector in the state to which the elector has moved, any former qualified Wisconsin elector may vote an absentee ballot in the ward of the elector's prior residence in any presidential election occurring within 24 months after leaving Wisconsin by requesting an application form and returning it, properly executed, to the municipal clerk of the elector's prior Wisconsin residence. When requesting an application form for an absentee ballot, the applicant shall specify the applicant's eligibility for only the presidential ballot. Unless the applicant is exempted from providing proof of identification under s. 6.87 (4) (b) 2. or 3., or the applicant is a military or overseas elector, the elector shall enclose a copy of his or her proof of identification or any authorized substitute document with his or her application. The municipal clerk shall verify that the name on the proof of identification conforms to the name on the application. The clerk shall not issue a ballot to an elector who is required to enclose a copy of proof of identification or an authorized substitute document with his or her application unless the copy is enclosed and the proof is verified by the clerk. The application form shall require the following information and be in substantially the following form:

SB173,5,14 This form shall be returned to the municipal clerk's office. Application must be received in sufficient time for ballots to be mailed and returned prior to any presidential election at which applicant wishes to vote. Complete all statements in full.

SB173,5,15 APPLICATION FOR PRESIDENTIAL

SB173,5,16 ELECTOR'S ABSENTEE BALLOT

SB173,5,17 (To be voted at the Presidential Election

SB173,5,18 on November ...., .... (year)

SB173,6,2 I, .... hereby swear or affirm that I am a citizen of the United States, formerly residing at .... in the .... ward .... aldermanic district (city, town, village) of ...., County of .... for 28 10 consecutive days prior to leaving the State of Wisconsin. I, .... do solemnly swear or affirm that I do not qualify to register or vote under the laws of the State of ....(State you now reside in) where I am presently residing. A citizen must be a resident of: State ....(Insert time) County ....(Insert time) City, Town or Village ....(Insert time), in order to be eligible to register or vote therein. I further swear or affirm that my legal residence was established in the State of ....(the State where you now reside) on .... Month .... Day .... Year.

SB173,6,3 Signed ....

SB173,6,4 Address ....(Present address)

SB173,6,5 ....(City) ....(State)

SB173,6,6 Subscribed and sworn to before me this .... day of .... .... (year)

SB173,6,7 ....(Notary Public, or other officer authorized to administer oaths.)

SB173,6,8 ....(County)

SB173,6,9 My Commission expires

SB173,6,10 MAIL BALLOT TO:

SB173,6,11 NAME ....

SB173,6,12 ADDRESS ....

SB173,6,13 CITY .... STATE .... ZIP CODE ....

SB173,6,18 Penalties for Violations. Whoever swears falsely to any absent elector affidavit under this section may be fined not more than $1,000 or imprisoned for not more than 6 months or both. Whoever intentionally votes more than once in an election may be fined not more than $10,000 or imprisoned for not more than 3 years and 6 months or both.