March 16, 2021 - Introduced by Senators Stroebel, Roth, Darling, Marklein,
Jacque, Wanggaard, Bradley, Nass, Ballweg and Felzkowski, cosponsored
by Representatives Neylon, Duchow, Magnafici, Edming, Steffen, Spiros,
Krug, Knodl, Brooks, Sortwell, Gundrum, Murphy, Jagler, Wichgers and
VanderMeer. Referred to Committee on Elections, Election Process Reform
and Ethics.

SB207,1,3 1An Act to amend 7.30 (3) (a) and 12.60 (1) (a); and to create 7.30 (7), 12.085 and
212.13 (3) (zp) of the statutes; relating to: private resources used for election
3administration, appointment of election officials, and providing a penalty.

Under this bill, no official or agent of a county, city, village, or town may apply
for or accept any donation or grant of moneys, equipment, materials, or personnel
from an individual or nongovernmental entity for purposes of election
administration, except as expressly authorized under the statutes relating to
elections. If the Elections Commission accepts a donation or grant of moneys from
an individual or nongovernmental entity for purposes of election administration, the
commission may not expend those moneys, except as follows:

1. The commission must distribute the moneys to each municipality in
Wisconsin on a per capita basis, subject to an exception for distributions that would
result in any municipality receiving less than $25.

2. The commission may expend the moneys only as approved by the Joint
Committee on Finance.

Under the bill, whoever violates one of the prohibitions described above is guilty
of a Class I felony, the penalty for which is a fine not to exceed $10,000 or
imprisonment not to exceed three years and six months, or both.

The bill also makes it a Class I felony for any person to assist in counting or
tabulating votes at an election unless the person is a resident of this state, is a
tabulator or election official who is trained to the extent provided by law, and has

signed the official oath and returned it to the municipal clerk with respect to that
election.

Finally, the bill prohibits the appointment of any poll worker who is an
employee of any of the following:

1. A candidate committee, legislative campaign committee, political action
committee, independent expenditure committee, political party, recall committee, or
referendum committee, as those terms are defined by law.