SB943: Bill Text

LRB-5518/1

MPG:amn

2023 - 2024 LEGISLATURE

2023 Senate BILL 943

January 19, 2024 - Introduced by Senators Smith, Spreitzer, Agard and Roys, cosponsored by Representatives Haywood, Snodgrass, Ortiz-Velez, Neubauer, Emerson, Conley, Joers, J. Anderson, Ratcliff, Ohnstad, Stubbs, Subeck, Moore Omokunde, Jacobson and Madison. Referred to Committee on Shared Revenue, Elections and Consumer Protection.

SB943,1,4 An Act to amend 6.02 (1), 6.02 (2), 6.10 (3), 6.10 (4), 6.15 (1), 6.15 (2) (a), 6.18 (form), 6.22 (7), 6.29 (2) (a), 6.55 (2) (a) (form), 6.85 (2), 6.87 (2) (form), 6.94 and 7.52 (5) (b) of the statutes; relating to: residency requirement for purposes of voting.

Analysis by the Legislative Reference Bureau

Under current law, with limited exceptions, an otherwise eligible voter must be a resident of Wisconsin and of the municipality and ward, if any, where the voter is voting for 28 days before an election in order to vote in the election in that municipality and ward. This bill shortens that residency requirement from 28 days to 10 days.

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

SB943,1 Section 1. 6.02 (1) of the statutes is amended to read:

SB943,1,8 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.

SB943,2 Section 2. 6.02 (2) of the statutes is amended to read:

SB943,2,6 6.02 (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.

SB943,3 Section 3. 6.10 (3) of the statutes is amended to read:

SB943,2,15 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 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.

SB943,4 Section 4. 6.10 (4) of the statutes is amended to read:

SB943,3,2 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.

SB943,5 Section 5. 6.15 (1) of the statutes is amended to read:

SB943,3,9 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.

SB943,6 Section 6. 6.15 (2) (a) of the statutes is amended to read:

SB943,3,18 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:

SB943,3,19 STATE OF WISCONSIN

SB943,3,20 County of ....

SB943,4,6 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.

SB943,4,7 Signed ....

SB943,4,8 P.O. Address ....

SB943,4,9 Subscribed and sworn to before me this .... day of ...., .... (year)

SB943,4,10 ....(Name)

SB943,4,11 ....(Title)

SB943,7 Section 7. 6.18 (form) of the statutes is amended to read:

SB943,4,16 6.18 (form) 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.

SB943,4,17 APPLICATION FOR PRESIDENTIAL

SB943,4,18 ELECTOR'S ABSENTEE BALLOT

SB943,4,19 (To be voted at the Presidential Election

SB943,4,20 on November ...., .... (year)

SB943,5,4 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.

SB943,5,5 Signed ....

SB943,5,6 Address ....(Present address)

SB943,5,7 ....(City) ....(State)

SB943,5,8 Subscribed and sworn to before me this .... day of .... .... (year)

SB943,5,9 ....(Notary Public, or other officer authorized to administer oaths.)

SB943,5,10 ....(County)

SB943,5,11 My Commission expires

SB943,5,12 MAIL BALLOT TO:

SB943,5,13 NAME ....

SB943,5,14 ADDRESS ....

SB943,5,15 CITY .... STATE .... ZIP CODE ....

SB943,5,20 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.

SB943,5,21 ....(Municipal Clerk)

SB943,5,22 ....(Municipality)

SB943,8 Section 8. 6.22 (7) of the statutes is amended to read:

SB943,6,3 6.22 (7) Extension of privilege. This section applies to all military electors for 28 10 days after the date of discharge from a uniformed service or termination of services or employment of individuals specified in sub. (1) (b) 1. to 4.

SB943,9 Section 9. 6.29 (2) (a) of the statutes is amended to read:

SB943,6,16 6.29 (2) (a) Any qualified elector of a municipality who has not previously filed a registration form or whose name does not appear on the registration list of the municipality may register after the close of registration but not later than 5 p.m. or the close of business, whichever is later, on the Friday before an election at the office of the municipal clerk and at the office of the clerk's agent if the clerk delegates responsibility for electronic maintenance of the registration list to an agent under s. 6.33 (5) (b). The elector shall complete, in the manner provided under s. 6.33 (2), a registration form containing all information required under s. 6.33 (1). The registration form shall also contain the following certification: “I, ...., hereby certify that, to the best of my knowledge, I am a qualified elector, having resided at ... for at least 28 10 consecutive days immediately preceding this election, and I have not voted at this election". The elector shall also provide proof of residence under s. 6.34.

SB943,10 Section 10. 6.55 (2) (a) (form) of the statutes is amended to read:

SB943,6,20 6.55 (2) (a) (form) “I, ...., hereby certify that, to the best of my knowledge, I am a qualified elector, having resided at .... for at least 28 10 consecutive days immediately preceding this election, and I have not voted at this election."

SB943,11 Section 11. 6.85 (2) of the statutes is amended to read:

SB943,6,25 6.85 (2) Any otherwise qualified elector who changes residence within this state by moving to a different ward or municipality later than 28 10 days prior to an election may vote an absentee ballot in the ward or municipality where he or she was qualified to vote before moving.

SB943,12 Section 12. 6.87 (2) (form) of the statutes is amended to read:

SB943,7,2 6.87 (2) (form)

SB943,7,3 [STATE OF ....

SB943,7,4 County of ....]

SB943,7,5 or

SB943,7,6 [(name of foreign country and city or other jurisdictional unit)]

SB943,7,19 I, ...., certify subject to the penalties of s. 12.60 (1) (b), Wis. Stats., for false statements, that I am a resident of the [.... ward of the] (town) (village) of ...., or of the .... aldermanic district in the city of ...., residing at ....* in said city, the county of ...., state of Wisconsin, and am entitled to vote in the (ward) (election district) at the election to be held on ....; that I am not voting at any other location in this election; that I am unable or unwilling to appear at the polling place in the (ward) (election district) on election day or have changed my residence within the state from one ward or election district to another later than 28 10 days before the election. I certify that I exhibited the enclosed ballot unmarked to the witness, that I then in (his) (her) presence and in the presence of no other person marked the ballot and enclosed and sealed the same in this envelope in such a manner that no one but myself and any person rendering assistance under s. 6.87 (5), Wis. Stats., if I requested assistance, could know how I voted.

SB943,7,20 Signed ....

SB943,7,21 Identification serial number, if any: ....

SB943,7,22 The witness shall execute the following:

SB943,8,3 I, the undersigned witness, subject to the penalties of s. 12.60 (1) (b), Wis. Stats., for false statements, certify that I am an adult U.S. citizen** and that the above statements are true and the voting procedure was executed as there stated. I am not a candidate for any office on the enclosed ballot (except in the case of an incumbent municipal clerk). I did not solicit or advise the elector to vote for or against any candidate or measure.

SB943,8,4 ....(Printed name)

SB943,8,5 ....(Address)***

SB943,8,6 Signed ....

SB943,8,8 * — An elector who provides an identification serial number issued under s. 6.47 (3), Wis. Stats., need not provide a street address.

SB943,8,12 ** — An individual who serves as a witness for a military elector or an overseas elector voting absentee, regardless of whether the elector qualifies as a resident of Wisconsin under s. 6.10, Wis. Stats., need not be a U.S. citizen but must be 18 years of age or older.

SB943,8,14 *** — If this form is executed before 2 special voting deputies under s. 6.875 (6), Wis. Stats., both deputies shall witness and sign.

SB943,13 Section 13. 6.94 of the statutes is amended to read:

SB943,9,6 6.94 Challenged elector oath. If the person challenged refuses to answer fully any relevant questions put to him or her by the inspector under s. 6.92, the inspectors shall reject the elector's vote. If the challenge is not withdrawn after the person offering to vote has answered the questions, one of the inspectors shall administer to the person the following oath or affirmation: “You do solemnly swear (or affirm) that: you are 18 years of age; you are a citizen of the United States; you are now and for 28 10 consecutive days have been a resident of this ward except under s. 6.02 (2); you have not voted at this election; you have not made any bet or wager or become directly or indirectly interested in any bet or wager depending upon the result of this election; you are not on any other ground disqualified to vote at this election". If the person challenged refuses to take the oath or affirmation, the person's vote shall be rejected. If the person challenged answers fully all relevant questions put to the elector by the inspector under s. 6.92, takes the oath or affirmation, and fulfills the applicable registration requirements, and if the answers to the questions given by the person indicate that the person meets the voting qualification requirements, the person's vote shall be received.

SB943,14 Section 14. 7.52 (5) (b) of the statutes is amended to read:

SB943,9,25 7.52 (5) (b) For the purpose of deciding upon ballots that are challenged for any reason, the board of absentee ballot canvassers may call before it any person whose absentee ballot is challenged if the person is available to be called. If the person challenged refuses to answer fully any relevant questions put to him or her by the board of absentee ballot canvassers under s. 6.92, the board of absentee ballot canvassers shall reject the person's vote. If the challenge is not withdrawn after the person offering to vote has answered the questions, one of the members of the board of absentee ballot canvassers shall administer to the person the following oath or affirmation: “You do solemnly swear (or affirm) that: you are 18 years of age; you are a citizen of the United States; you are now and for 28 10 consecutive days have been a resident of this ward except under s. 6.02 (2), stats.; you have not voted at this election; you have not made any bet or wager or become directly or indirectly interested in any bet or wager depending upon the result of this election; you are not on any other ground disqualified to vote at this election." If the person challenged refuses to take the oath or affirmation, the person's vote shall be rejected. If the person challenged answers fully all relevant questions put to the elector by the board of absentee ballot canvassers under s. 6.92, takes the oath or affirmation, and fulfills the applicable registration requirements, and if the answers to the questions given by the person indicate that the person meets the voting qualification requirements, the person's vote shall be received.