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LRB-4577/1
MPG:cdc&kjf
2019 - 2020 LEGISLATURE
December 2, 2019 - Introduced by Representatives Vorpagel, Spreitzer, Bowen,
Doyle, Anderson, Katsma, Kulp, Pope, Sanfelippo, Sinicki, Stubbs, Subeck,
C. Taylor, Tittl and Vruwink, cosponsored by Senators LeMahieu, Miller,
Carpenter, Larson, Olsen, Ringhand, Stroebel, Testin, Wanggaard and
Risser. Referred to Committee on Campaigns and Elections.
AB636,1,3 1An Act to amend 5.84 (1), 6.15 (4) (b), 6.86 (1) (b), 6.87 (6), 6.88 (1) and 7.52 (1)
2(a); and to create 6.885 and 6.91 of the statutes; relating to: canvassing
3absentee ballots on the Monday before an election and providing a penalty.
Analysis by the Legislative Reference Bureau
Under current law, absentee ballots may not be canvassed until election day.
This bill authorizes a municipality to adopt an ordinance providing for the
canvassing of absentee ballots on the Monday before an election, subject to the
following requirements:
1. The municipality must use automatic tabulating equipment to process
absentee ballots.
2. Prior to enacting an ordinance under the bill, the municipal clerk or
municipal board of election commissioners must notify the Elections Commission in
writing of the proposed enactment and must consult with the Elections Commission
concerning administration of early canvassing of absentee ballots.
3. Early canvassing of absentee ballots under the bill must satisfy the
procedures required under current law for canvassing absentee ballots on election
day.
4. Members of the public must have the same right of access to a place where
absentee ballots are being canvassed early as is provided under current law for
canvassing absentee ballots on election day.
5. When not in use, automatic tabulating equipment used for canvassing
absentee ballots and the areas where the programmed media and the absentee

ballots are housed must be secured with tamper-evident security seals in a
double-lock location such as a locked cabinet inside a locked office.
6. Ballots canvassed early under the bill may not actually be tabulated until
the closing of the polls on election day.
7. Subject to criminal penalty, no person may act in any 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 early under the bill before the close of the polls on
election day.
8. Certain notices must be provided before each election at which the
municipality intends to canvass absentee ballots on the Monday before election day.
For further information see the state and local fiscal estimate, which will be
printed as an appendix to this bill.
The people of the state of Wisconsin, represented in senate and assembly, do
enact as follows:
AB636,1 1Section 1. 5.84 (1) of the statutes is amended to read:
AB636,3,52 5.84 (1) Where any municipality employs an electronic voting system which
3utilizes automatic tabulating equipment, either at the polling place or at a central
4counting location,
the municipal clerk shall, on any day not more than 10 days prior
5to the election day on which the equipment is to be utilized, have the equipment
6tested to ascertain that it will correctly count the votes cast for all offices and on all
7measures. Public notice of the time and place of the test shall be given by the clerk
8at least 48 hours prior to the test by publication of a class 1 notice under ch. 985 in
9one or more newspapers published within the municipality if a newspaper is
10published therein, otherwise in a newspaper of general circulation therein. The test
11shall be open to the public. The test shall be conducted by processing a preaudited
12group of ballots so marked as to record a predetermined number of valid votes for
13each candidate and on each referendum. The test shall include for each office one
14or more ballots which have votes in excess of the number allowed by law and, for a
15partisan primary election, one or more ballots which have votes cast for candidates

1of more than one recognized political party, in order to test the ability of the
2automatic tabulating equipment to reject such votes. If any error is detected, the
3municipal clerk shall ascertain the cause and correct the error. The clerk shall make
4an errorless count before the automatic tabulating equipment is approved by the
5clerk for use in the election.
AB636,2 6Section 2. 6.15 (4) (b) of the statutes is amended to read:
AB636,3,127 6.15 (4) (b) During polling hours, or on the Monday before the election if
8authorized under s. 6.885,
the inspectors shall open each carrier envelope, announce
9the elector's name, check the affidavit for proper execution, and check the voting
10qualifications for the ward, if any. In municipalities where absentee ballots are
11canvassed under s. 7.52, the municipal board of absentee ballot canvassers shall
12perform this function at a meeting of the board of absentee ballot canvassers.
AB636,3 13Section 3. 6.86 (1) (b) of the statutes is amended to read:
AB636,4,1314 6.86 (1) (b) Except as provided in this section, if application is made by mail,
15the application shall be received no later than 5 p.m. on the 5th day immediately
16preceding the election. If application is made in person, the application shall be
17made no earlier than 14 days preceding the election and no later than the Sunday
18preceding the election. No application may be received on a legal holiday. A
19municipality shall specify the hours in the notice under s. 10.01 (2) (e). The
20municipal clerk or an election official shall witness the certificate for any in-person
21absentee ballot cast. Except as provided in par. (c), if the elector is making written
22application for an absentee ballot at the partisan primary, the general election, the
23presidential preference primary, or a special election for national office, and the
24application indicates that the elector is a military elector, as defined in s. 6.34 (1), the
25application shall be received by the municipal clerk no later than 5 p.m. on election

1day. If the application indicates that the reason for requesting an absentee ballot is
2that the elector is a sequestered juror, the application shall be received no later than
35 p.m. on election day. If the application is received after 5 p.m. on the Friday
4immediately preceding the election, the municipal clerk or the clerk's agent shall
5immediately take the ballot to the court in which the elector is serving as a juror and
6deposit it with the judge. The judge shall recess court, as soon as convenient, and
7give the elector the ballot. The judge shall then witness the voting procedure as
8provided in s. 6.87 and shall deliver the ballot to the clerk or agent of the clerk who
9shall deliver it to the polling place election inspectors of the proper ward or election
10district
or, in municipalities where absentee ballots are canvassed under s. 7.52, to
11the municipal clerk as required in s. 6.88. If application is made under sub. (2) or
12(2m), the application may be received no later than 5 p.m. on the Friday immediately
13preceding the election.
AB636,4 14Section 4. 6.87 (6) of the statutes is amended to read:
AB636,4,2115 6.87 (6) The ballot shall be returned so it is delivered to the polling place
16election inspectors of the proper ward or election district no later than 8 p.m. on
17election day. Except in municipalities where absentee ballots are canvassed under
18s. 7.52, if the municipal clerk receives an absentee ballot on election day, the clerk
19shall secure the ballot and cause the ballot to be delivered to the polling place serving
20the elector's residence before 8 p.m. Any ballot not mailed or delivered as provided
21in this subsection may not be counted.
AB636,5 22Section 5. 6.88 (1) of the statutes is amended to read:
AB636,5,1323 6.88 (1) When an absentee ballot arrives at the office of the municipal clerk,
24or at an alternate site under s. 6.855, if applicable, the clerk shall enclose it,
25unopened, in a carrier envelope which shall be securely sealed and endorsed with the

1name and official title of the clerk, and the words “This envelope contains the ballot
2of an absent elector and must be opened in the same room where votes are being cast
3at the polls during polling hours on election day or, in municipalities where absentee
4ballots are canvassed under s. 7.52, stats., at a meeting of the municipal board of
5absentee ballot canvassers under s. 7.52, stats
only as provided by law." If the elector
6is a military elector, as defined in s. 6.34 (1), or an overseas elector, regardless of
7whether the elector qualifies as a resident of this state under s. 6.10, and the ballot
8was received by the elector by facsimile transmission or electronic mail and is
9accompanied by a separate certificate, the clerk shall enclose the ballot in a
10certificate envelope and securely append the completed certificate to the outside of
11the envelope before enclosing the ballot in the carrier envelope. The clerk shall keep
12the ballot in the clerk's office or at the alternate site, if applicable until delivered, as
13required in sub. (2).
AB636,6 14Section 6. 6.885 of the statutes is created to read:
AB636,5,19 156.885 Early canvassing of absentee ballots. (1) Ordinance authorizing
16early canvassing; requirements.
(a) 1. The governing body of any municipality that
17uses automatic tabulating equipment to process absentee ballots may provide by
18ordinance that absentee ballots received by the municipal clerk may be canvassed
19on the Monday before the election.
AB636,5,2320 2. Prior to enacting an ordinance under subd. 1., the municipal clerk or
21municipal board of election commissioners shall notify the elections commission in
22writing of the proposed enactment and shall consult with the elections commission
23concerning administration of this section.
AB636,6,3
1(b) Early canvassing of absentee ballots under this section shall satisfy the
2procedures required for canvassing absentee ballots during polling hours at a polling
3place under s. 6.88 (3) or, if applicable, 7.52.
AB636,6,64 (c) Any member of the public has the same right of access to a place where
5absentee ballots are being canvassed early under this section that the individual
6would have under s. 7.41 to observe the proceedings at a polling place.
AB636,6,107 (d) When not in use, automatic tabulating equipment used for purposes of this
8section and the areas where the programmed media and the absentee ballots are
9housed shall be secured with tamper-evident security seals in a double-lock location
10such as a locked cabinet inside a locked office.
AB636,6,1211 (e) Ballots canvassed early under this section may not be tabulated until the
12closing of the polls on election day.
AB636,6,1613 (f) No person may act in any manner that would give him or her the ability to
14know or to provide information on the accumulating or final results from the ballots
15canvassed early under this section before the close of the polls on election day. A
16person who violates this paragraph is guilty of a Class I felony.
AB636,6,18 17(2) Notice requirements. Absentee ballots may not be canvassed early under
18this section for any election unless all of the following apply:
AB636,6,2219 (a) At least 70 days before the election the municipal clerk or executive director
20of the municipal board of election commissioners notifies in writing the county clerk
21or executive director of the county board of election commissioners that early
22canvassing of absentee ballots will take place in the election.
AB636,6,2423 (b) The notice under s. 10.01 (2) (e) specifies the date and time during which,
24and each location where, the early canvassing of absentee ballots will be conducted.
AB636,7 25Section 7 . 6.91 of the statutes is created to read:
AB636,7,6
16.91 Place for challenging an elector. The vote of any voter, including an
2absent voter, may be challenged as provided under this subchapter at the polling
3place, at the municipal clerk's office, at an in-person absentee voting location during
4the period for making an in-person application for an absentee ballot under s. 6.86
5(1) (b), at a location where the early canvassing of absentee ballots is being conducted
6under s. 6.885, or at a central count location.
AB636,8 7Section 8 . 7.52 (1) (a) of the statutes is amended to read:
AB636,8,28 7.52 (1) (a) The governing body of any municipality may provide by ordinance
9that, in lieu of canvassing absentee ballots at polling places under s. 6.88, the
10municipal board of absentee ballot canvassers designated under s. 7.53 (2m) shall,
11at each election held in the municipality, canvass all absentee ballots received by the
12municipal clerk by 8 p.m. on election day. Prior to enacting an ordinance under this
13subsection, the municipal clerk or board of election commissioners of the
14municipality shall notify the elections commission in writing of the proposed
15enactment and shall consult with the elections commission concerning
16administration of this section. At every election held in the municipality following
17enactment of an ordinance under this subsection, the board of absentee ballot
18canvassers shall, any time after the opening of the polls, or on the Monday before the
19election if authorized under s. 6.885,
and before 10 p.m. on election day, publicly
20convene to count the absentee ballots for the municipality. The municipal clerk shall
21give at least 48 hours' notice of any meeting under this subsection. Any member of
22the public has the same right of access to a meeting of the municipal board of
23absentee ballot canvassers under this subsection that the individual would have
24under s. 7.41 to observe the proceedings at a polling place. The board of absentee

1ballot canvassers may order the removal of any individual exercising the right to
2observe the proceedings if the individual disrupts the meeting.
AB636,8,33 (End)
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