Early canvassing of absentee ballots, issuance of presidential ballots, combined polling places, timeline for sending or transmitting absentee ballots, nomination papers for certain independent candidates, and providing a penalty. (FE)

This bill authorizes the municipal board of absentee ballot canvassers in such a municipality to begin canvassing absentee ballots on the day before an election, subject to the following requirements:

1. The board must convene its meeting no earlier than 7 a.m. on the day before the election nor later than 10 p.m. on election day. The meeting must continue until all absentee ballots have been counted, except that, if the meeting convenes on the day before the election, the meeting must adjourn no later than 10 p.m. that day and must reconvene no earlier than 7 a.m. on election day.

2. At least daily while ballots are being canvassed, the municipal clerk or his or her designee must post, at his or her office and on the Internet at a site announced by the clerk before canvassing begins, and must make available to any person upon request, a statement that shows the number of absentee ballots that the board has canvassed and the number of absentee ballots remaining to be canvassed.

3. If the meeting of the board of absentee ballot canvassers convenes and then adjourns on the day before the election, the board is required to secure the automatic tabulating equipment, and the areas where the programmed media, memory devices, and absentee ballots are housed, with tamper-evident security seals in a double-lock location such as a locked cabinet inside a locked office. Before resuming the canvassing of absentee ballots on election day, the board must check and record the status of each tamper-evident seal and must immediately notify the Elections Commission of any evidence of tampering. If the board discovers evidence of tampering with respect to automatic tabulating equipment, the canvass may not resume until after the equipment is replaced and tested in the manner provided by law. Also, if the board discovers evidence of tampering, after the election, the municipality is required conduct a recount in the manner provided by law and must audit the election equipment to verify the accuracy of the absentee ballot count.

4. Absentee ballots canvassed under the bill may not be tallied until after the canvass is complete or after the polls close on election day, whichever is later.

5. No person may act in a 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 under the bill before the canvass is complete or before the polls close on election day, whichever is later. Whoever intentionally violates that prohibition is guilty of a Class I felony, the penalty for which is a fine not to exceed $10,000 or imprisonment not to exceed three years and six months, or both.

Finally, under current law, criminal penalties are provided for election officials who commit certain specified kinds of election fraud. Otherwise, the willful neglect or refusal of an election official to perform a duty prescribed under the election laws is punishable by disqualification to act as an election official for five years. Under the bill, a member of the municipal board of absentee ballot canvassers or other election official who willfully neglects or refuses to perform any of the duties prescribed under the bill, and other duties prescribed under current law, with respect to the canvassing of absentee ballots by a municipal board of absentee ballot canvassers is guilty of a Class I felony.

Issuance of presidential ballots Under current law, certain new and former residents of Wisconsin may apply for and receive a ballot for the purpose of voting only for candidates for president and vice president at a presidential election in Wisconsin. This bill prohibits poll workers and other election officials from providing a ballot used for voting for the offices of president and vice president only, unless the elector is a new or former resident of the state and applies and qualifies for the presidential ballot as provided by law.

Combined polling places This bill authorizes any city, village, or town with a population of less than 35,000 to enter into an agreement to share a polling place with an adjacent city, village, or town also having a population of less than 35,000.

Timeline for sending or transmitting absentee ballots Current law requires a municipal clerk to send an absentee ballot for each partisan primary, presidential preference primary, and general election to all electors requesting the ballot, including military and overseas electors, no later than the 47th day before the partisan primary, presidential preference primary, or general election or, if the request is not made before that day, within one business day after the request is received. For all other primaries and elections, the municipal clerk must send or transmit the absentee ballot no later than the 21st day before the primary or election or, if the request is not made before that day, within one business day after the request is received.

Under this bill, a municipal clerk must send or transmit an absentee ballot for all primaries and elections, regardless of the type of primary or election, to electors other than military and overseas electors no later than the 21st day before the primary or election or, if the request is not made before that day, within one business day after the request is received. Under the bill, a municipal clerk must send or transmit an absentee ballot for all primaries and elections, regardless of the type of primary or election, to military and overseas electors no later than the 45th day before the primary or election or, if the request is not made before that day, within one business day after the request is received. That 45th day timeline is consistent with federal law.

N omination papers for certain independent candidates Under current law, nomination papers for independent candidates for any office to be voted upon at a general election, except president and vice president, may be circulated no sooner than the April 15 preceding the general election and must be filed no later than 5 p.m. on the June 1 preceding the partisan primary, which is held on the second Tuesday in August preceding the general election. Under current law, nomination papers for independent candidates for president and vice president may be circulated no sooner than the July 1 preceding the general election and must be filed no later than 5 p.m. on the first Tuesday in August preceding a presidential election.

Under this bill, the timeline for circulating and filing nomination papers for independent candidates for president and vice president is the same as that for all other independent candidates for offices to be voted on at the general election:

nomination papers may be circulated no sooner than the April 15 preceding the general election and must be filed no later than the June 1 preceding the partisan primary.

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.