Currently, a lobbyist may make a campaign contribution to a partisan elective
state official or candidate for partisan elective state office in the year of the official's
or candidate's election between June 1 and the day of the election. This bill extends
the time during which a lobbyist may make such a contribution to between the first
day authorized by law for the circulation of nomination papers as a candidate and
the day of the election.

Currently, with certain exceptions, an elector who votes in an election must
present proof of identification in order to vote. The proof may consist of one of a
number of documents specified by law that contains the name of the individual to
whom the document was issued, which name conforms to the individual's voter
registration, if the individual is registered to vote, and with limited exceptions, that
contains a photograph of the individual. With certain exceptions, an elector who
casts an absentee ballot by mail must enclose a copy of his or her proof of
identification in the envelope containing his or her ballot. One form of acceptable
proof of identification is a Wisconsin driver's license or identification card issued by
the Department of Transportation. An individual who applies for a Wisconsin
operator's license or identification card may be exempted from the current
requirement to be photographed under narrowly defined circumstances.

This bill permits a veterans identification card issued by the Veterans Health
Administration of the federal Department of Veterans Affairs to be used as proof of
identification if the card contains the name of the person to whom it is issued and a
photograph of the individual.

The bill also exempts an elector from the requirement to provide proof of
identification if the elector appears at the polling place serving his or her residence
on election day and swears or affirms before the chief inspector and submits a signed
statement affirming either that 1) he or she considers himself or herself to be
indigent and cannot obtain proof of identification without payment of a fee; 2) he or
she has a religious objection to being photographed; or 3) he or she cannot obtain the
documentation required to obtain proof of identification. The bill provides that if an
elector submits such a statement, the elector's ballot is marked in the same manner
as a challenged ballot and the board of canvassers that determines the election or
conducts a recount may review and determine the validity of the elector's ballot. The
bill also provides that the municipal clerk or board of election commissioners of the
elector's municipality of residence may investigate the qualifications of any elector
who submits a statement under the bill and advise the municipal board of canvassers
of his or her findings.

With limited exceptions, current law requires each person who is an eligible
elector and who wishes to vote in this state to first register. In certain circumstances,
an eligible elector must submit proof of residence with his or her registration form

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or prior to being permitted to vote. For example, a person who registers in the clerk's
office of his or her municipality within 20 days of an election must provide proof of
residence in order to obtain registration. Current law provides a list of qualifying
identifying documents and specifies the information that must appear on those
documents. Identifying documents must contain the registrant's name and current
address and qualifying identifying documents include a real estate tax bill, a bank
statement, and a current and valid Wisconsin driver license or identification card.

This bill prohibits an elector from providing an identifying document that is
displayed electronically to establish proof of residence; the identifying document
must be provided in hard-copy form. The bill adds to the list of qualifying identifying
documents a bill for cellular or wireless telephone service for the period commencing
no earlier than 90 days before election day and a credit card statement for the period
commencing no earlier than 90 days before election day.

Under current law, the GAB must compile and maintain an official registration
list. The registration list must contain specific information about each registered
elector in the state, including the elector's name, address, date of birth, and an
indication of how the elector's registration form was received. This bill requires the
board to include on the official registration list an indication of whether an elector
was required to provide proof of residence and, if so, the type of identifying document
submitted by the elector as proof of residence.

Currently, with limited exceptions, an elector voting in person at a polling place
must enter his or her signature on the poll list or a similar list before being permitted
to vote. After entering his or her signature, the election officials mark the poll list
to indicate that the elector has voted and, unless voting machines are used, give the
elector a ballot. Under current law, with certain exceptions, the election laws are to
be interpreted to give effect to the will of the electors if that can be ascertained from
the proceedings, notwithstanding failure to fully comply with some of their
provisions. When the ballots cast at an election are used to recount the votes cast
for an office or question, the officials compare the number of ballots cast to the
number of voting electors, according to the poll list. After certain other categories
of defective ballots are removed from the count, if the number of voting electors still
exceeds the number of ballots, the officials conducting the recount draw a number
of ballots at random from the remaining ballots until the number of voting electors
equals the number of ballots.

This bill provides that, for purposes of a recount, an elector shall not be
considered to be a voting elector if he or she is required to sign the poll list and does
not do so.

Currently, any person may object to the validity of an elector's registration by
filing an objection with the municipal clerk or board of election commissioners before
election day or with the inspectors at a polling place on election day. If a challenge
is made to an elector's registration on election day, the elector's ballot is marked for
review of the challenge during any recount that may be held. Currently, during the
recount of an election, the board of canvassers conducting the recount compares the

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number of voted ballots to the number of voting electors as indicated on the poll lists
or supplemental lists. If, after certain other defective ballots are set aside, the
number of voted ballots still exceeds the number of voting electors, the board draws
down, at random, a number of voted ballots equal to the excess number before
recounting the voted ballots and these ballots are not counted during the recount.

This bill provides that, in determining the number of voting electors, the board
of canvassers must hear and decide any objection to the validity of the registration
of an elector who registered on election day. Under the bill, if the board of canvassers
determines that the registration of an elector who registered on election day is
invalid, the board reduces the number of voting electors by one in performing the
drawdown of voted ballots, whenever a drawdown is required.

Under current law, in order to vote using an absentee ballot, an individual must
complete a certificate, which certifies that the individual is a qualified elector. The
individual must sign the certificate in the presence of a witness who must also sign
the certificate and provide his or her name and address. Under this bill, an absentee
ballot may not be counted if the certificate is missing the address of a witness.

Under current law, the governor appoints members of the GAB from
nominations submitted by the board's candidate committee. Current law requires
the candidate committee to submit at least two nominations to fill one vacancy on the
GAB, three nominations to fill two vacancies, five nominations to fill three vacancies,
six nominations to fill four vacancies, and seven nominations to fill five vacancies.
This bill doubles the number of nominations the candidate committee must submit
to the governor.

Under current law, election inspectors take all ballots counted by them and
secure the ballots together so that they cannot be separated or tampered with
without breaking a seal. The inspectors then put the secured ballots into a ballot
container and secure the container so that it cannot be opened without breaking a
seal or lock or without destroying the container. Under this bill, only the chief
inspector and one other inspector whose party affiliation is different than the chief
inspector's party affiliation may secure the ballot container.

Currently, polling places are staffed principally by election inspectors. Unless
a municipality decides to increase or decrease the number of inspectors, there are
seven inspectors at each polling place. With certain exceptions, the individuals who
are appointed as inspectors at a polling place are drawn from nominations submitted
by the political parties whose candidates for president or governor received the most
votes in the area served by the polling place at the preceding general election, with
the party whose candidate received the most votes entitled to fill one more position
than the other party.

This bill provides that whenever two or more inspectors are required to perform
a function within a polling place and both parties that are entitled to submit

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nominees have done so, the chief inspector must assign, insofar as practicable, an
equal number of inspectors from the nominees of each party.

This bill requires the municipal clerk, clerk's agent, and other individuals
authorized to accept receipt of a registration form from an elector to enter on the
registration form or poll list, and in some cases both the registration form and poll
list, the type of identifying document submitted by the elector as proof of residence
when proof of residence is required of the elector.

Under current law, a person may apply to the municipal clerk in person to vote
using an absentee ballot. In-person applications to vote using an absentee ballot
may be made beginning on the third Monday preceding the election and ending on
the later of 5 p.m. or the close of business on the Friday preceding the election.

Under this bill, in-person applications to vote using absentee ballots may be
received only Monday to Friday between the hours of 7:30 a.m. and 6 p.m., except
that an individual may make an appointment with the actual city, town, or village
clerk, as appropriate, so that the clerk, not a member of the clerk's staff or a
designated agent, may receive the individual's application made in person after 6
p.m. or anytime on Saturday or Sunday, not including the Saturday and Sunday after
the Friday preceding the election.

Currently, the voters of each ward vote at the same polling place, which is
generally separate from other polling places in a municipality. Election returns are
reported by ward unless otherwise authorized by law. Currently, no later than 60
days before each September primary and general election, and no later than 30 days
before each other election, the governing body of a municipality may combine two or
more wards for voting purposes to permit the use of a common polling place. In
municipalities with a population of 35,000 or more, a municipality must continue to
report all election returns by ward even where wards are combined for voting
purposes at a single location. Other municipalities may report returns for combined
wards together unless a separate ballot is required in a partisan election, in which
case separate returns must be reported for the offices listed on each separate ballot
so that the results of the various elections may be determined.

Under this bill, any municipality having a population of 35,000 or more may
provide that election returns for any ward having a population of 20 or less will be
combined with returns for any adjacent ward, unless separate returns are required
to determine the results of an election. A municipality, however, may not combine
wards if the total population of the combined wards would exceed the applicable
population range for wards in that municipality. The bill allows the municipal clerk
to estimate ward populations for the purpose of combining returns if the population
cannot be determined from census results.

Currently, any candidate who receives votes in an election and any elector who
votes in a referendum may petition for a recount of the votes cast. If the difference

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between the votes cast for the leading candidate and those cast for the petitioner or
the difference between the affirmative and negative votes cast upon any referendum
question is at least ten votes if 1,000 or fewer votes are cast or more than 0.5 percent
but not more than 2 percent of the total votes if more than 1,000 votes are cast, the
petitioner must pay a fee of $5 per ward or $5 per municipality if a municipality is
not divided into wards. The bill increases that amount to $25 per ward or $25 per
municipality if a municipality is not divided into wards.

This bill makes various changes in the laws governing special elections.

1. Currently, when a vacancy in the office of a U.S. senator or representative
in congress from this state occurs, the vacancy is filled by special election ordered by
the governor unless the vacancy occurs between the second Tuesday in April and the
second Tuesday in May in the year of the general election in which case it is filled at
the general election. This bill provides, in addition, that whenever a U.S. senator or
representative in congress is elected to another office after the beginning of his or her
term, and the term of the new office or the period during which the senator or
representative is eligible to assume office begins prior to the end of the senator's or
representative's original term of office, the governor may call a special election to fill
the seat of the senator or representative in anticipation of a vacancy, upon receipt of
notice of the written resignation of that senator or representative that is effective on
a date not later than the date of the proposed special election.

2. Currently, when a special election must be ordered to fill a vacancy in any
of the following, the special election must be held within a designated period
following the order: the office of a U.S. senator or representative of this state; certain
executive state offices; judicial and legislative state offices; county, city, village, and
town offices; the office of municipal judge; and the office of member of the board of
school directors of the Milwaukee Public Schools. Under current law, with two
exceptions, the date for the special election may not be not less than 62 nor more than
77 days from the date of the order:

a. If the special election is to be held on the day of the general election or to fill
a vacancy in a national office, the order must precede the partisan primary or special
primary, respectively, by not more than 122 days and by no fewer than 92 days.

b. If the special election is to be held on the day of the spring election, the order
must precede the spring primary by not more than 92 days and by not fewer than 49
days.

This bill eliminates the maximum number of days between which a special
election may be ordered and held.

3. Current law imposes restrictions on the timing of a special election ordered
to fill a vacancy in a judicial office that occurs after the date of the spring election but
on or before December 1:

a. If the vacancy occurs in the office of circuit judge, the vacancy must be filled
at the succeeding spring election.

b. If the vacancy occurs in the office of court of appeals judge, the vacancy must
be filled at the first succeeding spring election when no other court of appeals judge
is to be elected from the same court of appeals district.

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c. If the vacancy occurs in the office of supreme court justice, the vacancy must
be filled at the first succeeding spring election when no other justice is to be elected.

If a vacancy occurs in any of these judicial offices after December 1 but on or
before the succeeding spring election, the vacancy must be filled at the second
succeeding spring election that corresponds with the spring elections described
above. Finally, if, as a result of the resignation of the incumbent, a vacancy occurs
in any of these judicial offices after December 1 but on or before the date of the
succeeding spring election, and if the incumbent is not a candidate to succeed himself
or herself, the vacancy must be filled at the regularly scheduled election.

This bill changes each December 1 date to August 1.

4. Current law refers to the authority of the attorney general to order a special
election. This bill eliminates that reference.

5. Under current law, "special election" means any election other than a general
election, partisan primary, spring election, or spring primary to fill vacancies or to
conduct a referendum. This bill changes the definition of "special election" to mean
any election other than a general election, partisan primary, spring election, or
spring primary to fill vacancies.

Currently, a local government may schedule, or may be required to schedule,
a referendum to be held under various laws for various purposes. These purposes
include to apply for a state trust fund loan, to approve the issuance of bonds, to exceed
an applicable levy limit, or to annex territory. In some cases, a referendum must be
held at a special election scheduled for that purpose. In other cases, a referendum
may be held concurrently with a specified election, such as the spring election. In
still other cases, a referendum may be held with any election or at a special election
scheduled for that purpose. Current law occasionally requires the local government
to schedule a referendum within a specified period of time after a precipitating
action, such as two months after the filing of a petition or application or no sooner
than 42 days after the filing of a resolution. Although more restrictive limitations
do apply, current law generally requires any measure or question to be submitted to
a vote of the people, and any petition requesting that a measure or question be
submitted to a vote of the people, to be filed with the official or agency responsible
for preparing the ballots for the election no later than 70 days prior to the election
at which the measure or question will appear on the ballot.

This bill provides that a local governmental unit may schedule a referendum
only concurrently with a spring primary (held in most election districts in each year),
a spring election (held in each year), a partisan primary (held on the second Tuesday
in August in an even-numbered year), or a general election (held in even-numbered
years on the Tuesday after the first Monday in November) or at a special election held
to fill vacancies. The bill generally permits a referendum to be held at any of the
specified elections, including the next available election following the precipitating
action if holding the referendum at that election would be consistent with any
applicable restrictions on the number of days that must pass after a precipitating
action or the general provision that a measure, question, or petition be filed with the

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official or agency responsible for preparing the ballots no later than 70 days prior to
the election at which the measure or question will appear on the ballot.

Currently, with a limited exception, a board of canvassers must use automatic
tabulating equipment to conduct a recount of ballots that are in machine-readable
form. However, a candidate, or an elector if the recount is for a referendum question,
may petition the circuit court for an order requiring ballots in machine-readable
form to be recounted by hand or by another method approved by the court. To obtain
such an order, the candidate or elector must show by clear and convincing evidence
that due to an irregularity, defect, or mistake committed during the voting or
canvassing process the results of a recount using automatic tabulating equipment
will produce incorrect results and there is a substantial probability that recounting
the ballots by hand or by another method will produce a more correct result and
change the outcome of the election.

This bill permits the board of canvassers conducting a recount to determine to
conduct the recount of a specific election by hand unless a court orders the recount
to be conducted by another method.

Current law generally requires election officials to be qualified electors of the
municipality in which the officials serve. In addition, current law generally requires
election officials who serve at a polling place to be qualified electors of the ward for
which the polling place is established, whenever a municipality is divided into wards.
However, special registration deputies who register electors at a polling place on
election day, election officials who are appointed to work at a polling place that serves
more than one ward, election officials who are reassigned by a municipal clerk or
board of election commissioners to correct staffing deficiencies, or election officials
who are appointed to fill a temporary or permanent vacancy need not be electors of
any particular ward, but must be qualified electors of the municipality in which they
serve. Officials who are appointed to work at a polling place that serves more than
one ward must be electors of one of the wards served by the polling place. A high
school pupil who is 16 or 17 years of age may serve as an inspector (poll worker) at
the polling place serving his or her residence. In addition, if the municipal clerk or
the executive director of a board of election commissioners or a deputy to the clerk
or executive director serves as a special registration deputy or is appointed to work
at a polling place to fill a vacancy in an inspector position, the clerk, executive
director, or deputy need not be a resident of the municipality in which he or she
serves.

This bill provides, with certain exceptions, that an individual who serves as an
election official at a polling place on election day need be an elector only of a county
in which the municipality where the official serves is located. An individual who
serves as the chief inspector at a polling place must be a qualified elector of the
municipality where he or she serves unless no qualified candidate is available or the
chief inspector is appointed to fill a temporary vacancy. A high school pupil who
serves as an inspector must continue to meet the current residency requirement.

Under current law, a petition for the recall of a city, village, town, town sanitary
district, or school district officer, in addition to other requirements, must indicate a
reason for the recall that is related to the officer's official responsibilities. Under this
bill, any person who wishes to circulate a petition for the recall of a city, village, town,
town sanitary district, or school district officer must include with the person's
registration under the campaign finance laws a statement indicating that the officer
for whom the recall is sought has been charged with committing a crime or violating
a code of ethics law applicable to local officials. The person must also include a copy
of the criminal or civil complaint alleging the crime or violation.

Current law generally limits the amount of per pupil revenue a school district
may receive from general school aids and property taxes to the amount of revenue
allowed per pupil in the previous school year. A school board may adopt a resolution
to exceed the revenue limit; a resolution adopted by the school board must be
submitted to the electors of the school district at a referendum before the school
district may exceed its revenue limit. This bill prohibits a school board from
spending any state aid or property tax revenue to publish or disseminate information
related to or to promote any referendum called by the school district to exceed its
revenue limit.