SB 204

Absentee ballots

This bill makes a number of changes to the laws relating to absentee ballots in

Wisconsin.

1. Applications for absentee ballots

Subject to an exception for certain voters at residential care facilities and

qualified retirement homes, current law prohibits a municipal clerk from issuing an

absentee ballot to a voter, including in person at the municipal clerk's office, unless

the voter submits a written application for the absentee ballot. Current law does not

prescribe a specific form of written application for requesting absentee ballots.

The bill requires the Elections Commission to prescribe the form and

instructions of the absentee ballot application. The bill also requires the absentee

ballot application to be separate and distinct from the certificate envelope in which

voters must seal and submit absentee ballots, the outer portion of which includes

certifications of both the voter and a witness. Additionally, the bill requires that the

application require the voter to certify facts establishing that he or she is eligible to

vote in the election and must include at least all of the following information:

a. The voter's municipality and county of residence.

b. The voter's name, date of birth, and contact information, including as

applicable the voter's telephone number, fax number, and e-mail address.

c. The street address of the voter's legal voting residence.

d. The election at which the voter intends to vote absentee.

e. Whether the voter is a military or overseas voter.

f. The voter's confidential identification serial number if the voter has obtained

a confidential listing for purposes of voting.

g. The lawful method by which the voter prefers to receive the absentee ballot.

h. Whether the voter is a hospitalized voter.

The bill provides that any municipal clerk issuing an absentee ballot without

having received a completed application on the form prescribed by the Elections

Commission under the bill that contains the voter's original written signature, a copy

of the voter's original written signature if transmitted by facsimile transmission, or

the voter's electronic signature if submitted in Portable Document Format (PDF) by

e-mail, or the signature of a person authorized by law to sign on the elector's behalf,

is subject to a Class I felony, which is punishable by a fine not to exceed $10,000 or

imprisonment not to exceed three years and six months, or both.

2. Automatic receipt of absentee ballots

Current law allows the following voters to receive absentee ballots

automatically for each election for specified periods:

a. Indefinitely confined voters. Current law allows a voter who identifies

himself or herself as indefinitely confined because of age, physical illness, infirmity,

or disability to have, by signing a statement to that effect, an absentee ballot sent to