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Bills from the 2021–22 session

Senate Bill 446

Voter registration at high schools. (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

    Jul 7, 2021

  2. Committee, stopped here

    Stopped here. No public hearing was held.

  3. Senate vote, not reached

  4. Assembly vote, not reached

  5. Governor, not reached

  6. Law, not reached

Latest entry in the official record, Mar 15, 2022: “Failed to pass pursuant to ⁠”

It never got a hearing in the Senate Committee on Elections, Election Process Reform and Ethics. See every bill that never got a hearing this session.

Read the bill

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What it would have done

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

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.

Read the full summary

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.

Who's behind it

5 senators are its ⁠. All 5 are Democrats.

22 more lawmakers ⁠.

See all 27 names

Authors (5)

Signed on in support (22)

What it would cost

State agencies filed a . Each opens as a PDF from the Legislature.

What happened

  1. Mar 15, 2022

    The session ended, and the bill died with it.

  2. Jul 28, 2021

    A state agency sent in its estimate of the cost.

  3. Jul 7, 2021

    Sent to the Senate Committee on Elections, Election Process Reform and Ethics.

  4. Jul 7, 2021

    Introduced in the Senate.

See the official record, word for word
  1. Jul 7, 2021 · Senate

    Introduced by Senators Smith, Roys, Agard, Carpenter and Wirch; cosponsored by Representatives Snodgrass, Shelton, Hintz, Anderson, Andraca, Baldeh, Billings, Brostoff, Cabrera, Conley, Considine, Drake, Emerson, Hebl, Hesselbein, Neubauer, Pope, Shankland, Sinicki, Stubbs, Subeck and Vruwink

  2. Jul 7, 2021 · Senate

    Read first time and referred to Committee on Elections, Election Process Reform and Ethics

  3. Jul 28, 2021 · Senate

    Fiscal estimate received

  4. Mar 15, 2022 · Senate

    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

Cost estimate

A state agency's estimate of what a bill would cost or save.

Official term: Fiscal estimate. 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.

Public hearing

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

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

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

Author

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

Official term: Author, coauthor

Signed on in support

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

Official term: Cosponsor

Cost estimate

A state agency's estimate of what a bill would cost or save.

Official term: Fiscal estimate