AB 459

Prior to

2011 Wisconsin Act 240

, state law required that all public high schools

be used for voter registration for enrolled students and members of the high school

staff. Prior law also authorized voter registration to take place at a private high

school or a tribal school that operates high school grades if requested by the principal.

This bill reinstates those provisions.

Under the bill, the municipal clerk must notify the school board of each school

district in which the municipality is located that high schools will be used for voter

registration. The school board and the clerk then appoint at least one qualified voter

at each high school to be a special school registration deputy. The bill allows students

and staff to register at the school on any day that classes are regularly held. The

deputies promptly forward the registration forms to the clerk and the clerk adds

qualified voters to the registration list. The clerk may reject a registration form, but

the clerk must notify the registrant and inform the registrant of the reason for being

rejected. Under the bill, a form completed by an individual who will be 18 years of

age before the next election and who is otherwise qualified to vote must be filed in

such a way so that the individual is automatically registered to vote when the

individual is 18.

Finally, the bill allows a principal of a private high school or tribal school that

operates high school grades to request that the municipal clerk appoint a qualified

voter at the school to be a special school registration deputy. Under the bill, the clerk

must appoint a special school registration deputy if the clerk determines that the

private high school or tribal school has a substantial number of students residing in

the municipality.