Senator Duey Stroebel and I introduced ten bills to help restore integrity to our elections. Unfortunately, Governor Evers vetoed six of those common-sense reforms. Four other bills are awaiting action in the State Assembly.
It's important to note that all bills need to have public hearings and to be voted on by both the full State Assembly and the full State Senate before heading to the governor for final approval. However, Governor Evers clearly has no interest in reforming our elections. You can read more about the progress of the bills below.
SB 210 (Darling/Stroebel) Increases protections for election observers and specifically makes it easier for them to participate in the recount process. Vetoed by Governor.
SB 212 (Darling/Stroebel) Clarifies that election officials and clerks may not cure ballots or absentee ballot certificates. Provides a process that allows voters to track their ballot and correct any errors. Requires election officials to report any election fraud that they observe or have knowledge of occurring. Vetoed by Governor.
SB 209 (Darling/Stroebel) Legalizes absentee ballot drop boxes and limits absentee ballot drop boxes to one per municipality or a maximum of four per city of 70,000 or more. Drop boxes must be located on city property, be ADA compliant, be emptied once per day by 2 election officials, must be weather-proof, and must be under 24/7 video surveillance if they are not the only box in the municipality. Passed Senate.
SB 207/
AB 173 (Stroebel/Roth/Darling) – Bans out-of-state billionaires from buying access election administration in Wisconsin. Partisan political operatives should not influence how municipal clerks facilitate absentee voting, register voters, and count ballots. Vetoed by Governor.
SB 203 (Stroebel/Darling) Protects the integrity of absentee voting by banning ballot harvesting and requiring in-person absentee ballot collection events to comply with existing early in-person voting provisions. A family member may return a family member’s absentee ballot, or a person may designate in-writing another Wisconsin voter to return their ballot. A person may only return the absentee ballots of two non-family members. Vetoed by Governor.
SB 208 (Stroebel/Darling) Creates more transparency at the Wisconsin Elections Commission by requiring WEC to post copies of their meeting minutes and motions online within 48 hours of a commission meeting. Signed into law.
SB 213 (Stroebel/Darling) Increases election law enforcement by authorizing district attorneys in neighboring counties to investigate election fraud. Additionally authorizes citizens to seek a judicial remedy in court for election law violations by election officials instead of waiting for WEC to slowly conduct an administrative investigation. Passed Senate.
SB 204 (Stroebel/Darling) Requires all absentee voters to show a voter ID when they apply for an absentee ballot, prohibits the automatic mailing of absentee ballot applications by clerks, will include SB 206, which requires indefinitely confined voters to get a witness of their confinement before claiming the status, requires indefinitely confined voters to comply with voter ID. Vetoed by Governor.
SB 205 (Stroebel/Darling) Require long-term care facilities to notify family members of residents of when absentee voting is conducted at the facility and authorizes clerks to train a minimum of 2 long-term care facility workers as election officials. The bill also makes it a Class I felony for a facility employee to coerce a resident into voting or not voting, and establishes an audit of ballots cast from long-term care facilities. Vetoed by Governor.
SB 214 (Stafsholt/Stroebel/Darling) Authorizes municipalities to start counting absentee ballots the Monday before the election. This would prevent late-night ballot dumps and ensure that absentee vote totals, as much as possible, do not come in late on election night. Passed Senate Elections Committee.
