October 26, 2023 - Introduced by Representatives Tusler, Maxey, Armstrong, Dittrich, Donovan, Kitchens, Michalski, Murphy, O’Connor, Rettinger, Rozar, Schraa and Steffen, cosponsored by Senator Cabral-Guevara. Referred to Committee on Campaigns and Elections.

AB567,,22An Act to repeal 5.85 (5), 5.86 and 7.03 (1) (c); to renumber and amend 7.52 (1) (a); to amend 5.05 (12), 5.056, 5.84 (1), 5.84 (2), 5.85 (1), 5.87 (1), 5.91 (17), 6.15 (4) (a), 6.15 (4) (b), 6.29 (2) (am), 6.55 (2) (cs), 6.56 (3m), 6.79 (2) (dm), 6.86 (1) (b), 6.87 (6), 6.88 (1), 6.88 (2), 7.15 (1) (cm), 7.37 (12), 7.51 (1), 7.52 (2), 7.52 (3) (a), 7.52 (4) (a), 7.52 (9) and 54.25 (2) (c) 1. g.; and to create 5.057, 6.88 (4), 7.15 (16), 7.52 (1) (d) to (h), 7.52 (10), 7.52 (11) and 66.0512 of the statutes; relating to: transmitting and canvassing absentee ballots, use of central counting locations, election night reporting, whistleblower protection for municipal clerks, notifications and verifications concerning citizenship status, court determinations of incompetency and ineligibility to vote, and providing a penalty.

Under current law, absentee ballots may not be canvassed until election day. Current law additionally provides that any municipality may provide by ordinance that, in lieu of canvassing absentee ballots at polling places, a municipal board of absentee ballot canvassers established by the municipality is responsible for canvassing all absentee ballots received by the municipal clerk by 8 p.m. on election day. In such a municipality, the board of absentee ballot canvassers is required to convene a meeting any time after the polls open and before 10 p.m. on election day to canvass the absentee ballots cast in the municipality in the election. Among the requirements governing such a meeting, any member of the public has the same right of access to the meeting that the individual would have to observe the canvassing of absentee ballots at a polling place.

This bill does all of the following:

1. Requires the municipal board of absentee ballot canvassers in a municipality having an ordinance described above to begin canvassing absentee ballots on the day before an election. Canvassing absentee ballots on the day before the election is optional except for each spring and general election and each special election or recall election if the special or recall election is for a state or national office.

2. Provides that the board of absentee ballot canvassers must publicly convene at 7 a.m. on the day before the election to begin the canvass of absentee ballots for the municipality and recess at 8 p.m. on that day.

3. Requires that at 7 a.m., noon, and 8 p.m. on the day before the election, and at 7 a.m., noon, and 8 p.m. on election day, the municipal clerk or his or her designee or the municipal board of election commissioners must provide to the county clerk or county board of election commissioners of the county in which the municipality is located a statement that shows the total number of absentee ballots returned to the municipality and the total number of absentee ballots the municipal board of absentee ballot canvassers has canvassed. The county clerk or county board of election commissioners must promptly post each statement on the website on which returns for the county are posted on election night. In a municipality having a municipal board of election commissioners (currently, only the city of Milwaukee), the municipal board of election commissioners must also post the statement on the website maintained by the municipal board of election commissioners. The statement may not include the names or addresses of any electors. An absentee ballot is considered canvassed for purposes of this reporting requirement only after all tasks have been completed in the canvassing process except for the tallying of votes.

4. Requires that when the meeting of the board of absentee ballot canvassers recesses on the day before the election, the board must secure the automatic tabulating equipment, and the areas where the programmed media, memory devices, and absentee ballots are housed, with tamper-evident security seals in a double-lock location such as a locked cabinet inside a locked office. Before resuming the canvassing of absentee ballots, the board must check and record the status of each tamper-evident seal and must immediately notify the Elections Commission of any evidence of tampering. If the board discovers evidence of tampering with respect to automatic tabulating equipment, the canvass may not resume until the equipment is replaced and the replacement equipment is tested. Also, if the board discovers evidence of tampering, the Elections Commission must verify the accuracy of the absentee ballot count by ordering the municipality to conduct a recount after the election and conducting an audit of the election equipment.