May 24, 2019 - Introduced by Senators Bernier, Miller, Smith, Bewley and
Schachtner, cosponsored by Representatives Tusler, Zamarripa, Spreitzer,
Anderson, Krug, Loudenbeck, Macco, Mursau, Ramthun, Vruwink and
Subeck. Referred to Committee on Elections, Ethics and Rural Issues.

SB242,1,5 1An Act to repeal 6.22 (6) and 7.15 (1) (j); to amend 6.03 (1) (a), 6.03 (3), 6.18
2(intro.), 6.25 (1) (c), 6.25 (4), 6.79 (2) (d), 6.82 (1) (a), 6.875 (3) (b), 6.97 (1), 7.15
3(1) (cm), 7.52 (3) (a), 9.10 (2) (e) 6. and 12.60 (1) (a); and to create 12.13 (3) (mb)
4of the statutes; relating to: absentee voting, voting procedures, and providing
5a penalty.

This bill makes the following changes to the election laws regarding absentee
voting and voting procedures:

1. Under current law, a municipal clerk may dispatch special voting deputies
to a residential care facility or qualified retirement home so that the occupants of the
facility or home may cast an absentee ballot in person with the special voting
deputies rather than vote in person at the appropriate polling place or request and
complete an absentee ballot by mail. Current law provides that the occupants of a
retirement home that is not a qualified retirement home may vote in person at the
appropriate polling place or request and complete an absentee ballot by mail. Under
current law, a retirement home is a facility occupied as a primary residence by ten
or more unrelated individuals. A qualified retirement home is a retirement home
that has a significant number of occupants who lack adequate transportation to the
polling place, need assistance in voting, are aged 60 or over, or are indefinitely
confined. Current law also requires that if a retirement home is located within a
municipality on the same grounds as one or more residential care facilities to which

special voting deputies are dispatched, the management of the retirement home
shall provide the names and addresses of the home occupants to the clerk so that the
special voting deputies may verify which electors are eligible to cast absentee ballots
in person with the deputies.

This bill provides that if a retirement home that is not a qualified retirement
home is located within a municipality as part of a multiple-use facility consisting of
one or more qualified retirement homes or residential care facilities to which special
voting deputies are dispatched, the management of the retirement home must
provide the clerk with the names and addresses of the occupants of the home. The
clerk then provides the special voting deputies with the names and addresses of the
verified residents who are eligible to cast absentee ballots in person with the
deputies.

2. Current law allows an individual who registered to vote without providing
proof of residence prior to the enactment of 2013 Act 182, which took effect on April
4, 2014, to cast a provisional ballot on election day. The ballot is counted only if the
elector provides proof of residence to the municipal clerk or board of election
commissioners no later than 4 p.m. on the Friday after the election. Act 182
eliminated the option to register to vote without proof of residence, but those who
exercised that option prior to April 4, 2014, were given the opportunity to vote by
provisional ballot and provide proof of residence. By July 1, 2019, those electors will
have provided proof of residence and voted or will have been removed from the voter
registration database as part of the list maintenance process because they had not
voted in four years and had not responded to mailings from the Elections
Commission to verify their residential address. This bill provides that an individual
who is required to provide proof of residence to complete his or her voter registration
but who does not provide such proof is not allowed to cast a provisional ballot or to
otherwise vote.

3. Current law allows a former qualified Wisconsin elector who has moved out
of this state, but who is not yet a qualified elector in another state, to apply for and
vote by an absentee ballot in the ward of the elector's prior Wisconsin residence in
any presidential election occurring within 24 months after leaving this state.
Current law does not specify the deadline for making such a request, but, generally,
an application for an absentee ballot made by mail must be received no later than
5 p.m. on the fifth day preceding the election. This bill clarifies that a former
qualified Wisconsin elector who is not a qualified elector elsewhere must apply for
an absentee ballot to vote in a presidential election in the ward of the elector's prior
residence no later than 5 p.m. on the fifth day preceding the election.