April 3, 2023 - Introduced by Senators Wirch, Roys, Carpenter, Hesselbein, Larson and Spreitzer, cosponsored by Representatives J. Anderson, C. Anderson, Baldeh, Clancy, Joers, Madison, Ohnstad, Palmeri, Ratcliff, Shelton, Sinicki, Subeck and Conley. Referred to Committee on Government Operations, Elections and Consumer Protection.
SB144,,22An Act to renumber and amend 5.10; to amend 7.70 (5) (b) and 7.75 (2); and to create 5.10 (2), 5.11 and 5.12 of the statutes; relating to: entering into an agreement among the states to elect the president of the United States by means of a national popular vote. SB144,,33Analysis by the Legislative Reference Bureau Currently, the names of the presidential electors do not appear on the ballot in Wisconsin. Instead, the names of the candidates for president and vice president appear on the ballot, and each vote cast for one of the tickets is a vote for the presidential electors whose names are filed by their political party or, in the case of independent candidates, whose names are filed with the nomination papers of the candidates. After the winners of the presidential election in this state are determined, the presidential electors convene and cast their ballots for the candidates of the party who filed their names or for the independent candidates who filed their names.
This bill ratifies and enters Wisconsin into an agreement among the states that provides that if the agreement governs a particular presidential election, each state participating in the agreement will certify the electors of the party, or in the case of independent candidates, the electors of the candidates, who win the national popular vote for president and vice president as the winning slate of presidential electors in the participating state. Under the agreement, the Elections Commission must certify to the other participating states the winners of the presidential and vice presidential vote in this state and must accept the determinations of the chief election officials of the other states in calculating the numbers of votes cast for the presidential and vice presidential candidates in their states. The agreement governs the appointment of presidential electors in this state in any year in which the agreement is, on July 20, in effect in states cumulatively possessing a majority of electoral votes.
SB144,,44The people of the state of Wisconsin, represented in senate and assembly, do enact as follows: SB144,15Section 1. 5.10 of the statutes is renumbered 5.10 (1) and amended to read: