SB946-ASA1,1,7 1An Act to repeal 8.20 (8) (am); to renumber and amend 7.52 (1) (a); to amend
25.84 (1), 6.15 (4) (a), 6.15 (4) (b), 6.86 (1) (b), 6.87 (6), 6.88 (1), 6.88 (2), 7.15 (1)
3(cm), 7.52 (2), 7.52 (3) (a), 7.52 (4) (a), 7.52 (9) and 8.20 (8) (a); and to create 6.19,
46.88 (4), 7.15 (16), 7.52 (1) (a) 2., 7.52 (1) (d) to (h), 7.52 (10) and 66.0512 of the
5statutes; relating to: transmitting and canvassing absentee ballots,
6presidential ballots, nomination papers for certain independent candidates,
7whistleblower protection for municipal clerks, 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.

Also under current law, other than as described above, votes, including votes
cast by absentee ballot, are canvassed at the polling place after polls close on election
day. However, in a municipality that uses an electronic voting system, the municipal
clerk or municipal board of election commissioners may adjourn the vote canvass to
a central counting location where votes cast at multiple polling places in the
municipality and absentee ballots may all be counted after the polls close on election
day.

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 no municipality may utilize a central counting location unless
it has passed an ordinance providing for the canvassing of absentee ballots by a board
of absentee ballot canvassers.

3. 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.

4. 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
must provide to the county clerk of the county in which the municipality is located
a statement that shows the total number of absentee ballots returned to the
municipality, the total number of absentee ballots the municipal board of absentee
ballot canvassers has canvassed, and the total number of absentee ballots that
remain to be canvassed. The county clerk must promptly post each statement on the
Internet site on which the county clerk posts returns on election night. In a 1st class
city, the city clerk or his or her designee may post the statement on the city clerk's
Internet site. The statement may not include the names or addresses of any electors.
An absentee ballot may be 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.

5. 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 municipality must conduct a recount after the
election and must audit the election equipment to verify the accuracy of the absentee
ballot count.

6. Provides that votes on absentee ballots canvassed early under the bill may
not be tallied until after the canvass is complete or after the polls close on election
day, whichever is later.

7. Provides that no person may act in a 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 under the bill before the canvass is complete or before the polls
close on election day, whichever is later. Whoever intentionally violates that
prohibition 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.

8. Authorizes municipalities not utilizing a central counting location and not
having a board of absentee ballot canvassers to begin processing absentee ballots
beginning at 7 a.m. on the day before the election subject to some of the requirements
described above. In order to canvass absentee ballots early, such a municipality must
provide by ordinance that absentee ballots received by the municipal clerk may be
canvassed on the day before the election. Prior to enacting the ordinance, the
municipal clerk must notify the Elections Commission in writing of the proposed
ordinance and must consult with the Elections Commission concerning the early
canvassing of absentee ballots.