The bill also requires municipal clerks to publish certain notices, required under current law for spring and general elections, prior to a partisan primary or spring primary when a referendum will appear on the ballot at the spring or partisan primary.

7. Delivery to the commission of certified statements regarding an election.

Under current law, each county clerk is required to deliver or transmit to the commission a certified copy of each statement of a county board of canvassers regarding an election within certain specified time periods after primaries and all other elections. The bill specifies that the certified copies must be delivered or transmitted to the commission in a manner prescribed by the commission.

8. Appointment of election inspectors for canvassing absentee ballots.

Current law allows a municipality to appoint additional election inspectors for the canvassing of absentee ballots by the municipal board of absentee ballot canvassers. Under current law, an inspector so appointed must be a qualified elector of the municipality. The bill provides that if the municipality cannot identify a sufficient number of qualified electors of the municipality to serve as inspectors, the municipality may appoint qualified electors of the county in which the municipality is located to serve as inspectors.

9. Ballot space for write-in candidates for city office.

Current law requires that spring election ballots for town, village, and school district offices include sufficient space for write-in candidates. The bill requires that spring election ballots for city offices also include sufficient space for write-in candidates.

10. Names of independent candidates for state office listed on the partisan primary ballot.

The bill eliminates the requirement that a partisan primary ballot list the names of independent candidates for state office. Prior to July 1, 2011, listing the names of independent candidates for state office on the partisan primary ballot was necessary for determining eligibility for providing public financing for such candidates. Current law no longer provides public financing for campaigns for state office.

11. Maintaining poll lists after an election.

Under current law, a poll list created for an election must be maintained for 22 months after the election. The bill provides that an original electronic poll list need not be maintained if a true copy is maintained for the 22-month period.

12. Notice of ballot form and contents when an electronic voting system is used for an election.

Under current law, when a municipality uses an electronic voting system for an election, the clerks of the county and municipality where the system is used must provide notice of the ballot form and contents by arranging for the publication of an actual-size copy of the ballot. Current law, however, allows a publisher to reduce the size of the facsimile ballot for publication purposes. The bill eliminates the inconsistency between these two provisions by eliminating the requirement that the clerks arrange for publication of an actual-size copy of the ballot.

13. Paper copies of registration lists used in an election.

The bill specifies that a municipal clerk need not make paper copies of a registration list for use in an election if an electronic registration list is used.

14. References to copying machines.

Under current law, a municipal clerk is required upon request to provide a candidate one copy of the current poll list for those areas for which he or she is a candidate. Current law specifies that if a copying machine is unavailable, the clerk is required to remove the lists from the office to make copies and return the lists immediately thereafter. The bill removes any reference to a copying machine.

15. Counting of write-in votes.

Under current law, one of the circumstances under which all write-in votes must be counted for a particular office in an election occurs if a candidate certified to appear on the ballot dies or withdraws before the election. Under the bill, all write-in votes must be counted under that circumstance only if a candidate certified to appear on the ballot dies before the election.

16. Commission rules relating to forms of election notices.

Under current law, the commission is required to make rules and draft whatever forms it considers necessary to standardize the form of various election notices. The bill eliminates the requirement to make such rules but not the requirement to draft standardized forms.

17. Establishing ward lines.

The bill provides that, for the purpose of creating wards, no ward line may cross the boundary of a congressional, assembly, or supervisory district.

For further information see the state and local fiscal estimate, which will be printed as an appendix to this bill.

The people of the state of Wisconsin, represented in senate and assembly, do enact as follows:

AB304,1 Section 1. 5.06 (1) of the statutes is renumbered 5.06 (1) (a) and amended to read: