5.72 Correcting ballot errors.
SUBCHAPTER III
ELECTRONIC VOTING SYSTEMS
5.76 Adoption, experimentation or discontinuance of systems.
5.77 Applicable procedures.
5.79 Instruction of electors.
5.80 Demonstrator electronic voting system.
5.81 Ballot information; arrangement; absentee ballots.
5.83 Preparation for use of voting devices; comparison of ballots.
5.84 Testing of equipment; custody of programs and ballots.
5.85 Receiving, counting, tallying and return of ballots.
5.86 Proceedings at central counting location.
5.91 Requisites for approval of ballots, devices and equipment.
5.92 Bond may be required.
5.94 Sample ballot labels and cards; publication.
5.95 Elector information.
GENERAL PROVISIONS
5.01(1)(1)
Construction of chs. 5 to 12. Except as otherwise provided,
chs. 5 to
12 shall be construed to give effect to the will of the electors, if that can be ascertained from the proceedings, notwithstanding informality or failure to fully comply with some of their provisions.
5.01(2)
(2) General provisions of election laws apply. The general provisions of
chs. 5 to
12 apply to all elections.
5.01(3)(a)(a) Except as provided in
par. (b), in every election to choose any officer, each elector has one vote for each office unless clearly indicated otherwise. The person receiving the greatest number of legal votes for the office shall be declared elected, and the canvassers shall so determine and certify.
5.01(3)(b)
(b) In an election to fill a nonpartisan state office, if no names are certified to appear on the ballot, no person may be declared elected.
5.01(4)(a)(a) If 2 or more candidates for the same office receive the greatest, but equal number of votes, the winner shall be chosen by lot in the presence of the board of canvassers charged with the responsibility to determine the election, except as provided in
s. 8.17 (4) (b).
5.01(4)(b)
(b) If, in a primary, 2 or more candidates receive an equal but not the greatest number of votes so that only one of those candidates with equal votes may advance to the final election, the choice shall similarly be made by drawing lots.
5.01(4)(c)
(c) The candidates may, if all those tied for the same office are present, draw for themselves. Upon refusal or absence of any of the candidates, the board of canvassers shall appoint a competent person to draw, and upon the results declare and certify the winner.
5.01(4)(d)
(d) If a question is submitted to the electors and an equal number of votes are cast for and against adoption, the question fails adoption.
5.01(5)
(5) Election of governor and lieutenant governor. 5.01(5)(a)(a) In every general election to choose the governor and the lieutenant governor, each elector shall have a single vote applicable to both offices. The persons receiving the greatest number of legal votes cast jointly for them for governor and lieutenant governor shall be declared elected, and the canvassers shall so determine and certify.
5.01(5)(b)
(b) In case 2 or more slates have an equal and the highest number of votes for governor and lieutenant governor, the 2 houses of the legislature shall at the next annual session choose by joint ballot one of the slates so having an equal and the highest number of votes for governor and lieutenant governor.
5.01 Annotation
Where there is substantial compliance with, but a deviation from a provision in an election statute, thereby giving rise to the question of whether the requirement is directory or mandatory, the supreme court in a long line of cases has consistently construed the provision as directory in keeping with (1), which requires that the election laws shall be so construed as to give effect to the will of the electors. Lanser v. Koconis, 62 W (2d) 86, 214 NW (2d) 425.
5.01 Annotation
Where 40% of registered voters were denied ballots in election to remove county seat, election was set aside even though outcome probably was not affected. McNally v. Tollander, 100 W (2d) 490, 302 NW (2d) 440 (1981).
5.02
5.02
Definitions. In
chs. 5 to
12, unless the context requires otherwise:
5.02(1)
(1) "Automatic tabulating equipment" means apparatus which automatically examines and counts votes recorded on ballots or voting machines and tabulates the results.
5.02(1e)
(1e) "Ballot" means a tabulating card, ballot label, sheet of paper or envelope on which votes are recorded. The term also includes a sheet or card, filmstrip or other device listing or containing information relative to offices, candidates and referenda which is placed, projected or composed on the board or screen inside a voting machine.
5.02(1m)
(1m) "Ballot label" means the page, card or material containing the names of offices and candidates or referenda to be voted on, which is placed on a voting device. The term does not include a sticker applied to ballots to fill a vacancy in a nomination.
5.02(1q)
(1q) "Block" means an area which is the smallest geographic area used by the U.S. bureau of the census for data collection and tabulation.
5.02(1s)
(1s) "Board" means the elections board.
5.02(2)
(2) "County clerk" includes the executive director of the county board of election commissioners and their authorized representatives.
5.02(3)
(3) "Educational officer" means the state superintendent and school board members.
5.02(3m)
(3m) "Elected official" means an individual who is elected to a national, state or local office.
5.02(4)
(4) "Election" means every public primary and election.
5.02(4c)
(4c) "Election district" means a municipality that is not divided into wards, except as otherwise provided in
s. 8.17 (1) (b).
5.02(4e)
(4e) "Election official" means an individual who is charged with any duties relating to the conduct of an election.
5.02(4m)
(4m) "Electronic voting system" means a system in which votes are recorded on ballots, and the votes are subsequently counted and tabulated by automatic tabulating equipment. The term also includes a voting machine on which votes are recorded and tabulated by electronic means.
5.02(5)
(5) "General election" means the election held in even-numbered years on the Tuesday after the first Monday in November to elect United States senators, representatives in congress, presidential electors, state senators, representatives to the assembly, district attorneys, state officers other than the state superintendent and judicial officers, and county officers other than supervisors and county executives.
5.02(6)
(6) "Governing body" means the common council of a city, board of supervisors of a town or board of trustees of a village.
5.02(7)
(7) "Judge" means a court of appeals judge or a judge of a circuit court.
5.02(8)
(8) "Justice" means a justice of the supreme court.
5.02(8m)
(8m) "Labor organization" means any employe organization in which employes participate and which exists primarily for the purpose of engaging in collective bargaining with any employer concerning grievances, labor disputes, wages, hours or conditions of employment, or the promotion and advancement of the professional or occupational standards and the welfare of its members and families and any organization established for the same purposes composed of individuals or affiliates of any such employe organization.
5.02(9)
(9) "Local office" means any elective office other than a state or national office.
5.02(10)
(10) "Municipal clerk" means the city clerk, town clerk, village clerk and the executive director of the city election commission and their authorized representatives. Where applicable, "municipal clerk" also includes the clerk of a school district.
5.02(11)
(11) "Municipality" means city, town or village.
5.02(12)
(12) "National office" means the offices of president and vice president of the United States, U.S. senator and representative in congress.
5.02(12m)
(12m) "Nickname" means a familiar or shortened form of a proper name by which an individual is commonly known.
5.02(13)
(13) "Political party" or "party" means a state committee registered under
s. 11.05 organized exclusively for political purposes under whose name candidates appear on a ballot at any election, and all county, congressional, legislative, local and other affiliated committees authorized to operate under the same name. For purposes of
ch. 11, the term does not include a legislative campaign committee or a committee filing an oath under
s. 11.06 (7).
5.02(14)
(14) "Poll list" means the list which is compiled by election officials on election day showing the names and addresses of electors who actually cast votes in an election.
5.02(15)
(15) "Polling place" means the actual location wherein the elector's vote is cast.
5.02(16)
(16) "Primary" means a primary election.
5.02(16m)
(16m) "Recognized political party" means a political party which qualifies for a separate ballot or column under
s. 5.62 (1) (b) or
(2).
5.02(16s)
(16s) "Referendum" means an election at which an advisory, validating or ratifying question is submitted to the electorate.
5.02(17)
(17) "Registration list" means the list of electors who are properly registered to vote in municipalities in which registration is required.
5.02(18)
(18) "September primary" means the primary held the 2nd Tuesday in September to nominate candidates to be voted for at the general election, and to determine which candidates for state offices other than district attorney may participate in the Wisconsin election campaign fund.
5.02(19)
(19) "Special election" means any election, other than those described in
subs. (5),
(18),
(21) and
(22), to fill vacancies or to conduct a referendum.
5.02(20)
(20) "Special primary" means the primary held 4 weeks before the special election except when the special election is held on the same day as the general election the special primary shall be held on the same day as the general primary or if the special election is held concurrently with the spring election, the primary shall be held concurrently with the spring primary.
5.02(20g)
(20g) "Special purpose district" means any local governmental unit other than a county or municipality.
5.02(20r)
(20r) "Special referendum" means any referendum held at a special election which is not held concurrently with the elections described in
sub. (5),
(18),
(21) or
(22).
5.02(21)
(21) "Spring election" means the election held on the first Tuesday in April to elect judicial, educational and municipal officers, nonpartisan county officers, sewerage commissioners and to express preferences for the person to be the presidential candidate for each party.
5.02(22)
(22) "Spring primary" means the nonpartisan primary held the 3rd Tuesday in February to nominate candidates to be voted for at the spring election.
5.02(23)
(23) "State office" means the offices of governor, lieutenant governor, secretary of state, state treasurer, attorney general, state superintendent, justice of the supreme court, court of appeals judge, circuit court judge, state senator, state representative to the assembly and district attorney.
5.02(24)
(24) "State superintendent" means the state superintendent.
5.02(24g)
(24g) "Voting device" means an apparatus other than a voting machine which the elector uses to record his or her votes on a ballot.
5.02(24r)
(24r) "Voting machine" means a machine which serves in lieu of a voting booth and which mechanically or electronically records the votes cast by electors, who depress levers or buttons located next to the choices listed on a ballot to cast their votes.
5.02(25)
(25) "Ward" means a town, village or city subdivision created for the convenience of the electors therein and to facilitate the division of such municipalities into election districts of substantially equal population numbers along common boundaries observing the community of interest of existing neighborhoods and other settlements.
5.02 History
History: 1971 c. 211;
1971 c. 304 ss.
2,
29 (2);
1973 c. 280,
334;
1975 c. 93;
1977 c. 107,
187,
394;
1977 c. 427 ss.
3 to
14;
1977 c. 449;
1979 c. 32,
89,
221;
1979 c. 260 ss.
1m,
73 to
75;
1979 c. 311,
328;
1981 c. 4,
391;
1983 a. 484 ss.
5,
5c,
124m,
128;
1985 a. 303;
1985 a. 304 ss.
1m,
2,
155;
1987 a. 391 ss.
1 to
1r,
66w;
1989 a. 31;
1991 a. 5;
1993 a. 140,
184;
1995 a. 16 s.
2;
1995 a. 27 s.
9145 (1);
1995 a. 219.
5.05
5.05
Elections board; powers and duties. 5.05(1)
(1)
General authority. The elections board shall have the responsibility for the administration of
chs. 5 to
12 and other laws relating to elections and election campaigns. Pursuant to such responsibility, the board may:
5.05(1)(a)
(a) Employ an executive director outside the classified service and employ legal counsel. The executive director shall serve as the chief election officer for this state.
5.05(1)(b)
(b) In the discharge of its duties and upon notice to the party or parties being investigated, subpoena and bring before it any person in the state and require the production of any papers, books or other records relevant to an investigation. A circuit court may by order permit the inspection and copying of the accounts and the depositor's and loan records at any financial institution as defined in
s. 705.01 (3) doing business in the state to obtain evidence of any violation of
ch. 11 upon showing by the board of probable cause to believe there is a violation and that such accounts and records may have a substantial relation to the violation. In the discharge of its duties, the board may cause the deposition of witnesses to be taken in the manner prescribed for taking depositions in civil actions in circuit court.
