Skip to content
Bills from the 2013–14 session

Assembly Bill 837

Deceptive election practices and providing a penalty. (FE)

Stopped in committee

It never got a ⁠, so it never came up for a vote. To try again, a lawmaker would have to start a new bill.

  1. Introduced, passed

    Mar 3, 2014

  2. Committee, stopped here

    Stopped here. No public hearing was held.

  3. Assembly vote, not reached

  4. Senate vote, not reached

  5. Governor, not reached

  6. Law, not reached

Latest entry in the official record, Apr 8, 2014: “Failed to pass pursuant to ⁠”

It never got a hearing in the Assembly Committee on Campaigns and Elections. See every bill that never got a hearing this session.

Read the bill

Following saves it on this device. New actions show on your Following page. You can also get updates in a feed reader.

What it would have done

Summary by the , the Legislature's nonpartisan drafting office. It's their wording, not ours.

Under current law, with certain exceptions, no person may post or distribute any written material that describes the rights or responsibilities of individuals voting or registering to vote at a polling place or absentee voting site during any of the following times: 1) during polling hours at a polling place; 2) while voting is underway at an absentee voting site; or 3) on public property within 100 feet of an entrance to a building containing a polling place or an absentee voting site during polling hours or while absentee voting is underway. A person who violates any of these prohibition may be required to pay a forfeiture (civil penalty) of not more than $100 for each violation. Also under current law, no person may knowingly make or publish or cause to be made or published a false representation pertaining to a candidate or referendum that is intended to affect voting at an election. A person who violates this prohibition may be fined not more than $1,000 or imprisoned for not more than six months, or both.

This bill prohibits any person from knowingly providing false election-related information to an individual with the intent to induce an individual to refrain from registering to vote or from voting at an election. The bill defines election-related information as information concerning any of the following: 1) the date, time, place, or manner of conducting an election; and 2) any qualification for or restriction on the eligibility of an elector voting at an election, including any criminal penalty associated with voting in an election or a voter's registration status or eligibility. A person who violates this provision is guilty of a Class I felony and may be subject to a fine not to exceed $10,000 or imprisonment not to exceed three years and six months, or both.

Read the full summary

The bill exempts from liability the owner, publisher, printer, agent, or employee of a newspaper or other publication, including an Internet publication, or of a radio or television station, including an Internet radio or television station, who in good faith and without knowledge of its falsity, publishes false election-related information.

The bill permits a person who believes a violation has occurred to file a verified complaint with the Government Accountability Board (board). The board must review the complaint to determine whether the alleged facts would constitute a violation. If the board determines that the facts, if true, would constitute a violation, the board must investigate the complaint and, if appropriate, forward the complaint to the attorney general for prosecution. The board must also take any action necessary to provide correct election-related information to those persons who might have received false election-related information. In lieu of prosecuting the action, the bill permits the attorney general to forward the prosecution to the district attorney for the county in which the violation is alleged to have occurred.

Because this bill creates a new crime or revises a penalty for an existing crime, the Joint Review Committee on Criminal Penalties may be requested to prepare a report concerning the proposed penalty and the costs or savings that are likely to result if the bill is enacted.

Who's behind it

22 lawmakers are its ⁠. All 22 are Democrats.

5 more lawmakers ⁠.

See all 27 names

Authors (22)

Signed on in support (5)

What happened

  1. Apr 8, 2014

    The session ended, and the bill died with it.

  2. Mar 6, 2014

    1 more representative signed on in support.

  3. Mar 3, 2014

    Sent to the Assembly Committee on Campaigns and Elections.

  4. Mar 3, 2014

    Introduced in the Assembly.

See the official record, word for word
  1. Mar 3, 2014 · Assembly

    Introduced by Representatives Barnes, Zamarripa, Sargent, Johnson, Young, C. Taylor, Hebl, Bewley, Berceau, Ringhand, Wachs, Kolste, Goyke, Ohnstad, Mason, Doyle, Hesselbein, Pasch, Pope, Hulsey, Wright and Kessler; cosponsored by Senators Harris, Lehman, L. Taylor and Carpenter

  2. Mar 3, 2014 · Assembly

    Read first time and referred to Committee on Campaigns and Elections

  3. Mar 6, 2014 · Assembly

    Representative Shankland added as a coauthor

  4. Apr 8, 2014 · Assembly

    Failed to pass pursuant to Senate Joint Resolution 1

Terms on this page

Committee

A small group of lawmakers that looks at a bill first. Most bills never leave committee.

More in the glossary

Public hearing

A meeting where anyone can speak to a committee about a bill, or send written comments.

More in the glossary

Senate Joint Resolution 1

The session's calendar. Any bill not passed by its last voting day dies.

Official term: Failed to pass pursuant to SJR 1. More in the glossary

Legislative Reference Bureau

The Legislature's nonpartisan office that drafts bills and writes the summary at the top of each one.

Official term: LRB analysis. More in the glossary

Author

A lawmaker who formally puts a bill forward. The text itself is drafted by the Legislative Reference Bureau.

Official term: Author, coauthor. More in the glossary

Signed on in support

Lawmakers who back a bill without being one of its authors, often from the other chamber.

Official term: Cosponsor. More in the glossary

From the Wisconsin Legislature's official record, checked Sep 15, 2026. See the source

Committee

A small group of lawmakers that looks at a bill first. Most bills never leave committee.

More in the glossary

Public hearing

A meeting where anyone can speak to a committee about a bill, or send written comments.

More in the glossary

Senate Joint Resolution 1

The session's calendar. Any bill not passed by its last voting day dies.

Official term: Failed to pass pursuant to SJR 1

More in the glossary

Legislative Reference Bureau

The Legislature's nonpartisan office that drafts bills and writes the summary at the top of each one.

Official term: LRB analysis

More in the glossary

Author

A lawmaker who formally puts a bill forward. The text itself is drafted by the Legislative Reference Bureau.

Official term: Author, coauthor

More in the glossary

Signed on in support

Lawmakers who back a bill without being one of its authors, often from the other chamber.

Official term: Cosponsor

More in the glossary