2021 - 2022 LEGISLATURE
LRB-3025/1
JK&MPG:cdc
2021 ASSEMBLY BILL 306
May 3, 2021 - Introduced by Representative MAGNAFICI, cosponsored by Senator
BERNIER. Referred to Committee on Campaigns and Elections.
1 AN 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)
4 of the statutes; relating to: absentee voting, voting procedures, and providing
5 a penalty.
Analysis by the Legislative Reference Bureau
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 10 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
2021 - 2022 Legislature -2- LRB-3025/1
JK&MPG:cdc
ASSEMBLY BILL 306
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.
The 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. As of July 1, 2019, those electors
have provided proof of residence and voted or 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. The 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. The 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.
4. Currently, if election inspectors are aware that an eligible elector is unable
to enter the polling place due to a disability, the inspectors must allow the elector to
vote without entering the polling place. This is commonly referred to as “curbside
voting.” For curbside voting, the elector may designate another individual to assist
the elector with presenting proof of identification or marking the ballot. After the
inspectors have viewed the proof of identification and verified that the elector's name
and address match the name and address on the poll list, the inspectors issue a ballot
and take it to the entrance of the polling place so that the elector or the person
 LRB-3025/1
2021 - 2022 Legislature -3- JK&MPG:cdc
ASSEMBLY BILL 306
assisting the elector may mark the ballot. After the elector or the assisting individual
has marked the ballot, an inspector receives the ballot, enters the polling place, and
announces the name of the elector, states that the elector is unable to enter the
polling place due to a disability, and asks if anyone present objects to the inspector
receiving the elector's ballot.
Under the bill, an eligible elector who, for any reason, is unable to enter the
polling place is not required to sign the poll list, but, instead, must sign a document
indicating the elector's name and address and the time at which the inspectors issued
the ballot. The document, rather than the poll list, is brought outside the polling
place along with the ballot. The bill also requires an inspector to note on the poll list
that the elector voted “curbside.” The document also requires that the elector certify
that he or she is unable to enter the polling place.
The bill also modifies current law to conform with the current practices
described in the Elections Commission's election day manual regarding curbside
voting. For example, the bill requires that two inspectors must leave the polling
place to assist the elector and if having two inspectors outside the polling place
results in having fewer than three inspectors inside the polling place, no voting is
permitted during the time that the inspectors are outside assisting the elector. The
bill specifies that the inspectors leave the polling place initially in order to view the
elector's proof of identification. The inspectors then go back inside the polling place
to verify that the elector's name and address match the name and address in the poll
list and, if so, to issue a ballot. The inspectors then go outside a second time to have
the elector or assisting individual mark the ballot.
5. The bill makes a technical change to current law related to the municipal
clerk's duty to send absentee ballots automatically to those electors who have
requested that option so that the provision for sending out absentee ballots
automatically is included in the provision that specifies the clerk's other duties with
regard to preparing and providing absentee ballots.
6. Under the bill, a person may be denied the right to register to vote or to vote
based on the person's incapacity to understand the objective of the elective process
only if a court specifically determines that the person is incompetent to exercise those
rights. Under current law, a person who has been adjudicated incompetent may be
denied those rights without a specific finding by the court that the person is
incompetent to exercise those rights.
7. The bill eliminates the requirement that the board of absentee ballot
canvassers mark the poll list number of each elector who casts an absentee ballot on
the back of the elector's ballot before placing the ballot in the ballot box.
8. The bill prohibits a person from obtaining another person's marked absentee
ballot and failing or refusing to deliver it to the proper municipal clerk or polling
place. A person who violates this prohibition is guilty of a Class I felony.
9. The bill eliminates the requirement that each municipal clerk maintain an
updated list of all eligible military electors who reside in the municipality.
Because this bill creates a new crime or revises a penalty for an existing crime,
the Joint Review Committee on Criminal Penalties may be requested to prepare a
report.
 2021 - 2022 Legislature -4- LRB-3025/1
JK&MPG:cdc
ASSEMBLY BILL 306
For further information see the 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:
1 SECTION 1. 6.03 (1) (a) of the statutes is amended to read:
2 6.03 (1) (a) Any Subject to sub. (3), any person who is incapable of
3 understanding the objective of the elective process or who is under guardianship,
4 unless the court has determined that the person is competent to exercise the right
5 to vote.
6 SECTION 2. 6.03 (3) of the statutes is amended to read:
7 6.03 (3) No person may be denied the right to register to vote or the right to vote
8 by reason that the person is alleged to be incapable of understanding the objective
9 of the elective process unless the person has been adjudicated incompetent in this
10 state. If a determination of incompetency of the person has already been made, or
11 if a determination of limited incompetency has been made that does not include a
12 specific finding that the subject is competent to exercise the right to vote, and a
13 guardian has been appointed as a result of any such determination, then no
14 determination of incapacity of understanding the objective of the elective process is
15 required unless the guardianship is terminated or modified under s. 54.64 to exercise
16 the right to register to vote or to vote under s. 54.25 (2) (c) 1. g.
17 SECTION 3. 6.18 (intro.) of the statutes is amended to read:
18 6.18 Former residents. (intro.) If ineligible to qualify as an elector in the
19 state to which the elector has moved, any former qualified Wisconsin elector may
20 vote an absentee ballot in the ward of the elector's prior residence in any presidential
21 election occurring within 24 months after leaving Wisconsin by requesting an
 LRB-3025/1
2021 - 2022 Legislature -5- JK&MPG:cdc
ASSEMBLY BILL 306 SECTION 3
1 application form from the municipal clerk of the elector's prior residence and
2 returning it, properly executed, to the municipal clerk of the elector's prior Wisconsin
3 residence no later than 5 p.m. on the 5th day immediately preceding the election.
4 When requesting an application form for an absentee ballot, the applicant shall
5 specify the applicant's eligibility for only the presidential ballot. Unless the
6 applicant is exempted from providing proof of identification under s. 6.87 (4) (b) 2.
7 or 3., or the applicant is a military or overseas elector, the elector shall enclose a copy
8 of his or her proof of identification or any authorized substitute document with his
9 or her application. The municipal clerk shall verify that the name on the proof of
10 identification conforms to the name on the application. The clerk shall not issue a
11 ballot to an elector who is required to enclose a copy of proof of identification or an
12 authorized substitute document with his or her application unless the copy is
13 enclosed and the proof is verified by the clerk. The application form shall require the
14 following information and be in substantially the following form:
15 SECTION 4. 6.22 (6) of the statutes is repealed.
16 SECTION 5. 6.25 (1) (c) of the statutes is amended to read:
17 6.25 (1) (c) A completed and signed federal write-in absentee ballot submitted
18 by a qualified elector under par. (a) or (b) serves as an application for an absentee
19 ballot and need not be accompanied by a separate application.
20 SECTION 6. 6.25 (4) of the statutes is amended to read:
21 6.25 (4) A write-in absentee ballot issued under sub. (1) is valid only if the
22 elector submitting the ballot does not submit an official ballot within the time
23 prescribed in s. 6.87 (6) and, if the elector is an overseas elector, the elector resides
24 outside the United States.
25 SECTION 7. 6.79 (2) (d) of the statutes is amended to read:
 2021 - 2022 Legislature -6- LRB-3025/1
JK&MPG:cdc
ASSEMBLY BILL 306 SECTION 7
1 6.79 (2) (d) If the poll list indicates that proof of residence under s. 6.34 is
2 required and the proof of identification document provided by the elector under par.
3 (a) does not constitute proof of residence under s. 6.34, the officials shall require the
4 elector to provide proof of residence. If proof of residence is provided, the officials
5 shall enter both the type of identifying document submitted as proof of residence and
6 the name of the entity or institution that issued the identifying document in the
7 space provided on the poll list and shall verify that the name and address on the
8 identifying document is the same as the name and address shown on the registration
9 list. If proof of residence is required and not provided, or if the an elector does not
10 present proof of identification under par. (a), whenever required, the officials shall
11 offer the opportunity for the elector to vote under s. 6.97.
12 SECTION 8. 6.82 (1) (a) of the statutes is amended to read:
13 6.82 (1) (a) When any inspectors are informed that an eligible elector is at the
14 entrance to the polling place who as a result of disability is and unable to enter the
15 polling place, they 2 inspectors shall leave the polling place in order to view the
16 elector's proof of identification. If having 2 inspectors outside the polling place
17 results in having fewer than 3 inspectors inside the polling place, no voting is
18 permitted during the time that the inspectors are outside assisting the elector. If the
19 elector is able to enter the polling place, the elector shall vote in the polling place.
20 If the elector is unable to enter the polling place, the inspectors shall permit the
21 elector to be assisted in presenting proof of identification or marking a ballot by any
22 individual selected by the elector, except the elector's employer or an agent of that
23 employer or an officer or agent of a labor organization which represents the elector.
24 Except as authorized in s. 6.79 (6) and (7), the elector or the individual selected by
25 the elector shall present to the inspectors proof of identification and, if the elector is
 LRB-3025/1
2021 - 2022 Legislature -7- JK&MPG:cdc
ASSEMBLY BILL 306 SECTION 8
1 not registered and the proof of identification does not constitute proof of residence
2 under s. 6.34, shall also provide proof of residence under s. 6.34 for the assisted
3 elector and all other information necessary for the elector to obtain a ballot under s.
4 6.79 (2). The inspectors shall verify that the photograph appearing on the proof of
5 identification reasonably resembles the elector. The inspectors shall then enter the
6 polling place to verify that the name on the proof of identification presented by the
7 person assisting the elector conforms to the elector's name on the poll list or separate
8 list, shall verify that any photograph appearing on that document reasonably
9 resembles the elector, and, if registration is required, shall enter both the type of
10 identifying document submitted by the assisted elector as proof of residence and the
11 name of the entity or institution that issued the identifying document in the space
12 provided on the poll list or separate list. The inspectors shall also write “exempt” in
13 the signature box of the poll list. The inspectors shall then issue a ballot to the
14 individual selected by the elector and shall accompany the individual to the polling
15 place entrance where the assistance is to be given eligible elector who is unable to
16 enter the polling place and place the ballot in a security sleeve. Two inspectors shall
17 leave the polling place and present the ballot to the elector or to the individual
18 assisting the elector. If the ballot is a paper ballot, the elector or the assisting
19 individual shall fold the ballot place the ballot in the security sleeve after the ballot
20 is marked by the e