3. Early canvassing of absentee ballots under the bill must satisfy the
procedures required under current law for canvassing absentee ballots on election
day.
4. Members of the public must have the same right of access to a place where
absentee ballots are being canvassed early as is provided under current law for
canvassing absentee ballots on election day.

5. When not in use, automatic tabulating equipment used for canvassing
absentee ballots and the areas where the programmed media and the absentee
ballots are housed must be secured with tamper-evident security seals in a
double-lock location such as a locked cabinet inside a locked office.
6. Ballots canvassed early under the bill may not actually be tabulated until
the closing of the polls on election day.
7. Subject to criminal penalty, no person may act in any manner that would give
him or her the ability to know or to provide information on the accumulating or final
results from the ballots canvassed early under the bill before the close of the polls on
election day.
8. Certain notices must be provided before each election at which the
municipality intends to canvass absentee ballots on the Sunday before election day.
For further information see the state and local fiscal estimate, which will be
printed as an appendix to this bill.
The people of the state of Wisconsin, represented in senate and assembly, do
enact as follows:
SB917,1 1Section 1 . 5.84 (1) of the statutes is amended to read:
SB917,3,62 5.84 (1) Where any municipality employs an electronic voting system which
3utilizes automatic tabulating equipment, either at the polling place or at a central
4counting location,
the municipal clerk shall, on any day not more than 10 days prior
5to the election day on which the equipment is to be utilized, have the equipment
6tested to ascertain that it will correctly count the votes cast for all offices and on all
7measures. Public notice of the time and place of the test shall be given by the clerk
8at least 48 hours prior to the test by publication of a class 1 notice under ch. 985 in
9one or more newspapers published within the municipality if a newspaper is
10published therein, otherwise in a newspaper of general circulation therein. The test
11shall be open to the public. The test shall be conducted by processing a preaudited
12group of ballots so marked as to record a predetermined number of valid votes for
13each candidate and on each referendum. The test shall include for each office one
14or more ballots which have votes in excess of the number allowed by law and, for a

1partisan primary election, one or more ballots which have votes cast for candidates
2of more than one recognized political party, in order to test the ability of the
3automatic tabulating equipment to reject such votes. If any error is detected, the
4municipal clerk shall ascertain the cause and correct the error. The clerk shall make
5an errorless count before the automatic tabulating equipment is approved by the
6clerk for use in the election.
SB917,2 7Section 2 . 6.15 (4) (b) of the statutes is amended to read:
SB917,3,138 6.15 (4) (b) During polling hours, or on the Sunday before the election if
9authorized under s. 6.885,
the inspectors shall open each carrier envelope, announce
10the elector's name, check the affidavit for proper execution, and check the voting
11qualifications for the ward, if any. In municipalities where absentee ballots are
12canvassed under s. 7.52, the municipal board of absentee ballot canvassers shall
13perform this function at a meeting of the board of absentee ballot canvassers.
SB917,3 14Section 3 . 6.86 (1) (b) of the statutes is amended to read:
SB917,4,1415 6.86 (1) (b) Except as provided in this section, if application is made by mail,
16the application shall be received no later than 5 p.m. on the 5th day immediately
17preceding the election. If application is made in person, the application shall be
18made no earlier than 14 days preceding the election and no later than the Sunday
19preceding the election. No application may be received on a legal holiday. A
20municipality shall specify the hours in the notice under s. 10.01 (2) (e). The
21municipal clerk or an election official shall witness the certificate for any in-person
22absentee ballot cast. Except as provided in par. (c), if the elector is making written
23application for an absentee ballot at the partisan primary, the general election, the
24presidential preference primary, or a special election for national office, and the
25application indicates that the elector is a military elector, as defined in s. 6.34 (1), the

1application shall be received by the municipal clerk no later than 5 p.m. on election
2day. If the application indicates that the reason for requesting an absentee ballot is
3that the elector is a sequestered juror, the application shall be received no later than
45 p.m. on election day. If the application is received after 5 p.m. on the Friday
5immediately preceding the election, the municipal clerk or the clerk's agent shall
6immediately take the ballot to the court in which the elector is serving as a juror and
7deposit it with the judge. The judge shall recess court, as soon as convenient, and
8give the elector the ballot. The judge shall then witness the voting procedure as
9provided in s. 6.87 and shall deliver the ballot to the clerk or agent of the clerk who
10shall deliver it to the polling place election inspectors of the proper ward or election
11district
or, in municipalities where absentee ballots are canvassed under s. 7.52, to
12the municipal clerk as required in s. 6.88. If application is made under sub. (2) or
13(2m), the application may be received no later than 5 p.m. on the Friday immediately
14preceding the election.
SB917,4 15Section 4 . 6.87 (6) of the statutes is amended to read:
SB917,4,2216 6.87 (6) The ballot shall be returned so it is delivered to the polling place
17election inspectors of the proper ward or election district no later than 8 p.m. on
18election day. Except in municipalities where absentee ballots are canvassed under
19s. 7.52, if the municipal clerk receives an absentee ballot on election day, the clerk
20shall secure the ballot and cause the ballot to be delivered to the polling place serving
21the elector's residence before 8 p.m. Any ballot not mailed or delivered as provided
22in this subsection may not be counted.
SB917,5 23Section 5 . 6.88 (1) of the statutes is amended to read:
SB917,5,1424 6.88 (1) When an absentee ballot arrives at the office of the municipal clerk,
25or at an alternate site under s. 6.855, if applicable, the clerk shall enclose it,

1unopened, in a carrier envelope which shall be securely sealed and endorsed with the
2name and official title of the clerk, and the words “This envelope contains the ballot
3of an absent elector and must be opened in the same room where votes are being cast
4at the polls during polling hours on election day or, in municipalities where absentee
5ballots are canvassed under s. 7.52, stats., at a meeting of the municipal board of
6absentee ballot canvassers under s. 7.52, stats
only as provided by law." If the elector
7is a military elector, as defined in s. 6.34 (1), or an overseas elector, regardless of
8whether the elector qualifies as a resident of this state under s. 6.10, and the ballot
9was received by the elector by facsimile transmission or electronic mail and is
10accompanied by a separate certificate, the clerk shall enclose the ballot in a
11certificate envelope and securely append the completed certificate to the outside of
12the envelope before enclosing the ballot in the carrier envelope. The clerk shall keep
13the ballot in the clerk's office or at the alternate site, if applicable until delivered, as
14required in sub. (2).
SB917,6 15Section 6 . 6.885 of the statutes is created to read:
SB917,5,22 166.885 Early canvassing of absentee ballots during a state of emergency.
17(1) Ordinance authorizing early canvassing; requirements. (a) 1. The governing
18body of any municipality that uses automatic tabulating equipment to process
19absentee ballots may provide by ordinance that absentee ballots received by the
20municipal clerk may be canvassed on the Sunday before any election occurring no
21later than 90 days after the governor issues an executive order declaring a state of
22emergency under s. 323.10.
SB917,6,223 2. Prior to enacting an ordinance under subd. 1., the municipal clerk or
24municipal board of election commissioners shall notify the elections commission in

1writing of the proposed enactment and shall consult with the elections commission
2concerning administration of this section.
SB917,6,53 (b) Early canvassing of absentee ballots under this section shall satisfy the
4procedures required for canvassing absentee ballots during polling hours at a polling
5place under s. 6.88 (3) or, if applicable, 7.52.
SB917,6,86 (c) Any member of the public has the same right of access to a place where
7absentee ballots are being canvassed early under this section that the individual
8would have under s. 7.41 to observe the proceedings at a polling place.
SB917,6,129 (d) When not in use, automatic tabulating equipment used for purposes of this
10section and the areas where the programmed media and the absentee ballots are
11housed shall be secured with tamper-evident security seals in a double-lock location
12such as a locked cabinet inside a locked office.
SB917,6,1413 (e) Ballots canvassed early under this section may not be tabulated until the
14closing of the polls on election day.
SB917,6,1815 (f) No person may act in any manner that would give him or her the ability to
16know or to provide information on the accumulating or final results from the ballots
17canvassed early under this section before the close of the polls on election day. A
18person who violates this paragraph is guilty of a Class I felony.
SB917,6,20 19(2) Notice requirements. Absentee ballots may not be canvassed early under
20this section for any election unless all of the following apply:
SB917,6,2421 (a) As soon as practicable before the election the municipal clerk or executive
22director of the municipal board of election commissioners notifies in writing the
23county clerk or executive director of the county board of election commissioners that
24early canvassing of absentee ballots will take place in the election.
SB917,7,2
1(b) The notice under s. 10.01 (2) (e) specifies the date and time during which,
2and each location where, the early canvassing of absentee ballots will be conducted.
SB917,7 3Section 7 . 6.91 of the statutes is created to read:
SB917,7,9 46.91 Place for challenging an elector. The vote of any voter, including an
5absent voter, may be challenged as provided under this subchapter at the polling
6place, at the municipal clerk's office, at an in-person absentee voting location during
7the period for making an in-person application for an absentee ballot under s. 6.86
8(1) (b), at a location where the early canvassing of absentee ballots is being conducted
9under s. 6.885, or at a central count location.
SB917,8 10Section 8 . 7.52 (1) (a) of the statutes is amended to read:
SB917,8,411 7.52 (1) (a) The governing body of any municipality may provide by ordinance
12that, in lieu of canvassing absentee ballots at polling places under s. 6.88, the
13municipal board of absentee ballot canvassers designated under s. 7.53 (2m) shall,
14at each election held in the municipality, canvass all absentee ballots received by the
15municipal clerk by 8 p.m. on election day. Prior to enacting an ordinance under this
16subsection, the municipal clerk or board of election commissioners of the
17municipality shall notify the elections commission in writing of the proposed
18enactment and shall consult with the elections commission concerning
19administration of this section. At every election held in the municipality following
20enactment of an ordinance under this subsection, the board of absentee ballot
21canvassers shall, any time after the opening of the polls, or on the Sunday before the
22election if authorized under s. 6.885,
and before 10 p.m. on election day, publicly
23convene to count the absentee ballots for the municipality. The municipal clerk shall
24give at least 48 hours' notice of any meeting under this subsection. Any member of
25the public has the same right of access to a meeting of the municipal board of

1absentee ballot canvassers under this subsection that the individual would have
2under s. 7.41 to observe the proceedings at a polling place. The board of absentee
3ballot canvassers may order the removal of any individual exercising the right to
4observe the proceedings if the individual disrupts the meeting.
SB917,8,55 (End)
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