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AB506: Bill Text
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2025 - 2026 LEGISLATURE
LRB-4942/1
JK:cdc
2025 ASSEMBLY BILL 506
October 9, 2025 - Introduced by Representatives
Ortiz-Velez
,
Snodgrass
,
Bare
,
Cruz
,
Joers
,
Miresse
,
Sinicki
,
Udell
and
Clancy
, cosponsored by Senators
Carpenter
,
Spreitzer
,
Keyeski
and
Wall
. Referred to Committee on Campaigns and Elections.
AB506,1,7
1
An Act
to repeal
5.35 (6) (b), 5.51 (7), 5.81 (4), 5.91 (6), 7.50 (1) (d) and 8.50 (3)
2
(c);
to renumber and amend
5.37 (4);
to amend
5.02 (16m), 5.62 (1), 5.62 (2),
3
5.62 (3), 5.655 (1), 5.84 (1), 5.91 (1), 5.91 (3), 6.80 (2) (am), 6.80 (2) (f), 6.87 (4)
4
(b) 1., 7.08 (2) (b), 7.50 (2) (g), 8.16 (1), 8.16 (6), 8.16 (7), 8.17 (1) (a), 8.20 (9),
5
8.50 (3) (b), 9.10 (3) (e), 10.02 (3) (b) 2., 15.61 (1) (a) 6. and 15.62 (1) (a) 6. of the
6
statutes;
relating to:
authorizing electors to vote in the primary of more than
7
one political party.
Analysis by the Legislative Reference Bureau
Under current law, a voter in a partisan primary election may cast a ballot or vote in the column of only one major political party, regardless of the number of candidates who are running for office in that party, if any. Similarly, a voter in a partisan primary may vote for any of the independent candidates for state office, but if the voter chooses this option, he or she may not vote for any party candidates for any office. Candidates of minor parties appear on the ballot as independent candidates.
This bill permits a voter in a partisan primary to “split tickets,” designating the candidate of his or her choice for each office, including the offices of governor and lieutenant governor, regardless of party affiliation. The bill also allows a voter to vote for independent candidates for one or more state offices in a partisan primary, in addition to party candidates for one or more state or county offices. Under the bill, a voter may still vote for only one candidate for each office. The voting procedure at the general election and other partisan elections is unaffected by the bill.
The bill initially applies to voting at the 2026 partisan primary election.
For further information see the state 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:
AB506,1
1
Section
1
.
5.02 (16m) of the statutes is amended to read:
AB506,2,4
2
5.02
(16m)
“Recognized political party” means a political party
which
that
3
qualifies for a separate
ballot or
column
or row on partisan primary and election
4
ballots
under s. 5.62 (1) (b) or (2).
AB506,2
5
Section
2
.
5.35 (6) (b) of the statutes is repealed.
AB506,3
6
Section
3
.
5.37 (4) of the statutes is renumbered 5.37 (4) (intro.) and
7
amended to read:
AB506,2,9
8
5.37
(4)
(intro.) Voting machines may be used at primary elections when they
9
comply with subs. (1) and (2) and the following provisions:
All candidates’ names
AB506,2,14
10
(a) Each candidate’s name
entitled to appear on the
ballots
ballot
at the
11
primary
and the party that he or she represents
shall appear on the machine
; the
12
elector cannot vote for candidates of more than one party, whenever the restriction
13
applies; the elector may secretly select the party for which he or she wishes to vote;
14
the
.
AB506,2,16
15
(b) The
elector may vote for as many candidates for each office as he or she is
16
lawfully entitled to vote for, but no more.
AB506,4
17
Section
4
.
5.51 (7) of the statutes is repealed.
AB506,5
1
Section
5
.
5.62 (1) of the statutes is amended to read:
AB506,3,21
2
5.62
(1)
(a) At the partisan primary, the following ballot shall be provided for
3
the nomination of candidates of recognized political parties for national, state and
4
county offices and independent candidates for state office in each ward, in the same
5
form as prescribed by the commission under s. 7.08 (1) (a), except as authorized in s.
6
5.655. The
ballots
ballot
shall be made up of the several party tickets with each
7
party entitled to participate in the primary under par. (b) or sub. (2) having its own
8
ballot
column or row
, except as authorized in s. 5.655.
The ballots shall be secured
9
together at the bottom.
The
party ballot
column or row
of the party receiving the
10
most votes for president or governor at the last general election shall be
on top
first
11
with the other parties arranged in descending order based on their vote for
12
president or governor at the last general election. The
ballots
columns or rows
of
13
parties qualifying under sub. (2) shall be placed
after
to the right of or below
the
14
parties qualifying under par. (b), in the same order in which the parties filed
15
petitions with the commission. Any ballot required under par. (b) 2. shall be placed
16
next in order. At polling places where voting machines are used, each party shall be
17
represented in one or more separate columns or rows on the ballot. At polling
18
places where an electronic voting system is used other than an electronic voting
19
machine, each party may be represented in separate columns or rows on the ballot.
20
An elector at the partisan primary may vote for any candidate for each office
21
regardless of the political affiliation of the candidate.
AB506,4,13
22
(b) 1. Except as provided in subd. 2. and s. 5.64 (1) (e) 2., every recognized
23
political party listed on the official ballot at the last gubernatorial election whose
24
candidate for any statewide office received at least 1 percent of the total votes cast
1
for that office and, if the last general election was also a presidential election, every
2
recognized political party listed on the ballot at that election whose candidate for
3
president received at least 1 percent of the total
vote
votes
cast for that office shall
4
have
a separate primary ballot or
one or more separate columns or rows on the
5
primary ballot as prescribed in par. (a) and a separate column on the general
6
election
ballot
at the partisan primary and general election
in every ward and
7
election district. An organization
which
that
was listed as “independent” at the last
8
general election and whose candidate meets the same qualification shall receive the
9
same ballot status upon petition
of
to the commission by
the chairperson and
10
secretary of the organization
to the commission
requesting such status and
11
specifying their party name, which may not duplicate the name of an existing party.
12
A petition under this subdivision may be filed no later than 5 p.m. on April 1 in the
13
year of each general election.
AB506,5,3
14
2. Subdivision 1. applies to a party within any assembly district or county at
15
any partisan primary election only if at least one candidate of the party for any
16
national, state or county office qualifies to have his or her name appear on the
17
ballot under the name of that party within that assembly district or county. The
18
county clerk or county board of election commissioners shall provide
a combined
19
separate ballot or
one or more separate columns or rows on the ballot that will
20
permit an elector to cast a vote for a write-in candidate for the nomination of any
21
such party for each national, state
,
and county office whenever that party qualifies
22
to be represented
on a separate primary ballot or
in one or more separate columns
23
or rows under subd. 1. but does not qualify under this subdivision. The ballot shall
24
include the name of each party qualifying for
a separate ballot or
one or more
1
separate columns or rows on the ballot under each office, with the names of the
2
candidates for each such party appearing in the same order in which the
ballots
3
columns or rows
of the parties would appear under par. (a).
AB506,6
4
Section
6
.
5.62 (2) of the statutes is amended to read:
AB506,5,19
5
5.62
(2)
(a) Except as provided in par. (b) and s. 5.64 (1) (e) 2., any political
6
organization may be represented
on a separate primary ballot or
in one or more
7
separate columns or rows on the
partisan
primary ballot as prescribed in sub. (1) (a)
8
and in a separate column
or row
on the general election ballot in every ward and
9
election district. To qualify for a separate
ballot
column or row
under this
10
paragraph, the political organization shall, not later than 5 p.m. on April 1 in the
11
year of the partisan primary, file with the commission a petition requesting
12
separate
ballot status
column or row on the partisan primary ballot
. The petition
13
shall be signed by at least 10,000 electors, including at least 1,000 electors residing
14
in each of at least 3 separate congressional districts. The petition shall conform to
15
the requirements of s. 8.40. No signature obtained before January 1 in the year of
16
filing is valid. When the candidates of a political organization filing a valid petition
17
fulfill the requirements prescribed by law, they shall appear
on a separate ballot or
18
in
one or more separate columns or rows on the ballot for the period ending with the
19
following general election.
AB506,6,9
20
(b) Paragraph (a) applies to a party within any assembly district or county at
21
any partisan primary election only if at least one candidate of the party for any
22
national, state
,
or county office qualifies to have his or her name appear on the
23
ballot under the name of that party within that assembly district or county. The
24
county clerk or county board of election commissioners shall provide
a combined
1
separate ballot or
or one or more separate columns or rows on the ballot that will
2
permit an elector to cast a vote for a write-in candidate for the nomination of any
3
such party for each national, state
,
and county office whenever that party qualifies
4
to be represented
on a separate primary ballot or
in one or more separate columns
5
or rows under par. (a) but does not qualify under this paragraph. The ballot shall
6
include the name of each party qualifying for
a separate ballot or
one or more
7
separate columns or rows on the ballot under each office, with the names of the
8
candidates for each such party appearing in the same order in which the
ballots
9
columns or rows
of the parties would appear under sub. (1) (a).
AB506,7
10
Section
7
.
5.62 (3) of the statutes is amended to read:
AB506,6,19
11
5.62
(3)
The commission shall designate the official primary ballot
12
arrangement for statewide offices and district attorney within each prosecutorial
13
district by using the same procedure as provided in s. 5.60 (1) (b). On each
ballot
14
and on each
separate column or row on the ballot, the candidates for office shall be
15
listed together with the offices
which
that
they seek in the following order whenever
16
these offices appear on the partisan primary ballot: governor, lieutenant governor,
17
attorney general, secretary of state, state treasurer, U.S. senator, U.S.
18
representative in congress, state senator, representative to the assembly, district
19
attorney
,
and the county offices.
AB506,8
20
Section
8
.
5.655 (1) of the statutes is amended to read:
AB506,7,4
21
5.655
(1)
Whenever a separate ballot is required to be used, a municipality
22
may use a single ballot to facilitate the use of voting machines or an electronic
23
voting system or, if the municipality employs paper ballots, may use a consolidated
24
paper ballot that is authorized under sub. (2). If a municipality uses a single ballot
1
in lieu of separate ballots, the ballot shall include a separate column or row for any
2
office
,
or
referendum
or party
for which a separate ballot is required by law and the
3
ballot shall be distributed only to electors who are eligible to vote for all of the
4
offices and referenda appearing on the ballot.
AB506,9
5
Section
9
.
5.81 (4) of the statutes is repealed.
AB506,10
6
Section
10
.
5.84 (1) of the statutes is amended to read:
AB506,8,2
7
5.84
(1)
Where any municipality employs an electronic voting system which
8
utilizes automatic tabulating equipment, either at the polling place or at a central
9
counting location, the municipal clerk shall, on any day not more than 10 days prior
10
to the election day on which the equipment is to be utilized, have the equipment
11
tested to ascertain that it will correctly count the votes cast for all offices and on all
12
measures. Public notice of the time and place of the test shall be given by the clerk
13
at least 48 hours prior to the test by publication of a class 1 notice under ch. 985 in
14
one or more newspapers published within the municipality if a newspaper is
15
published therein, otherwise in a newspaper of general circulation therein. The
16
test shall be open to the public. The test shall be conducted by processing a
17
preaudited group of ballots so marked as to record a predetermined number of valid
18
votes for each candidate and on each referendum. The test shall include for each
19
office one or more ballots
which
that
have votes in excess of the number allowed by
20
law
and, for a partisan primary election, one or more ballots which have votes cast
21
for candidates of more than one recognized political party,
in order to test the ability
22
of the automatic tabulating equipment to reject such votes. If any error is detected,
23
the municipal clerk shall ascertain the cause and correct the error. The clerk shall
1
make an errorless count before the automatic tabulating equipment is approved by
2
the clerk for use in the election.
AB506,11
3
Section
11
.
5.91 (1) of the statutes is amended to read:
AB506,8,5
4
5.91
(1)
It enables an elector to vote in secrecy
and to select the party for
5
which an elector will vote in secrecy at a partisan primary election
.
AB506,12
6
Section
12
.
5.91 (3) of the statutes is amended to read:
AB506,8,11
7
5.91
(3)
Except in primary elections, it
It
enables an elector to vote for a ticket
8
selected in part from the nominees of one party, and in part from the nominees of
9
other parties, and in part from independent candidates and
, except in the case of
10
independent candidates at primary elections,
in part
of
from
candidates whose
11
names are written in by the elector.
AB506,13
12
Section
13
.
5.91 (6) of the statutes is repealed.
AB506,14
13
Section
14
.
6.80 (2) (am) of the statutes is amended to read:
AB506,8,19
14
6.80
(2)
(am) In partisan primaries, an elector may vote for a person as the
15
candidate of the party of the elector’s choice, if that person’s name does not appear
16
on the official ballot
of that party
, by writing in the name of the person in the space
17
provided on the ballot or the ballot provided for that purpose, or where voting
18
machines are used, in the irregular ballot device, designating the party for which
19
the elector desires such person to be the nominee.
AB506,15
20
Section
15
.
6.80 (2) (f) of the statutes is amended to read:
AB506,9,9
21
6.80
(2)
(f) In the presidential preference primary
and other partisan primary
22
elections
at polling places where ballots are distributed to electors, unless the
23
ballots are prepared under s. 5.655 or are utilized with an electronic voting system
24
in which all candidates appear on the same ballot, after the elector prepares his or
1
her ballot the elector shall detach the remaining ballots, fold the ballots to be
2
discarded and fold the completed ballot unless the ballot is intended for counting
3
with automatic tabulating equipment. The elector shall then either personally
4
deposit the ballots to be discarded into the separate ballot box marked “blank ballot
5
box
,
” and deposit the completed ballot into the ballot box indicated by the
6
inspectors, or give the ballots to an inspector who shall deposit the ballots directly
7
into the appropriate ballot boxes. The inspectors shall keep the blank ballot box
8
locked until the canvass is completed and shall dispose of the blank ballots as
9
prescribed by the municipal clerk.
AB506,16
10
Section
16
.
6.87 (4) (b) 1. of the statutes is amended to read:
AB506,9,24
11
6.87
(4)
(b) 1. Except as otherwise provided in s. 6.875, an elector voting
12
absentee, other than a military elector or an overseas elector, shall make and
13
subscribe to the certification before one witness who is an adult U.S. citizen. A
14
military elector or an overseas elector voting absentee, regardless of whether the
15
elector qualifies as a resident of this state under s. 6.10, shall make and subscribe
16
to the certification before one witness who is an adult but who need not be a U.S.
17
citizen. The absent elector, in the presence of the witness, shall mark the ballot in
18
a manner that will not disclose how the elector’s vote is cast. The elector shall then,
19
still in the presence of the witness, fold the ballots so each is separate and so that
20
the elector conceals the markings thereon and deposit them in the proper envelope.
21
If a consolidated ballot under s. 5.655 is used, the elector shall fold the ballot so that
22
the elector conceals the markings thereon and deposit the ballot in the proper
23
envelope. If proof of residence under s. 6.34 is required and the document enclosed
24
by the elector under this subdivision does not constitute proof of residence under s.
1
6.34, the elector shall also enclose proof of residence under s. 6.34 in the envelope.
2
Except as provided in s. 6.34 (2m), proof of residence is required if the elector is not
3
a military elector or an overseas elector and the elector registered by mail or by
4
electronic application and has not voted in an election in this state. If the elector
5
requested a ballot by means of facsimile transmission or electronic mail under s.
6
6.86 (1) (ac), the elector shall enclose in the envelope a copy of the request which
7
bears an original signature of the elector. The elector may receive assistance under
8
sub. (5). The return envelope shall then be sealed. The witness may not be a
9
candidate. The envelope shall be mailed by the elector, or delivered in person, to the
10
municipal clerk issuing the ballot or ballots. If the envelope is mailed from a
11
location outside the United States, the elector shall affix sufficient postage unless
12
the ballot qualifies for delivery free of postage under federal law.
Failure to return
13
an unused ballot in a primary does not invalidate the ballot on which the elector’s
14
votes are cast. Return of more than one marked ballot in a primary or return of a
15
ballot prepared under s. 5.655 or a ballot used with an electronic voting system in a
16
primary which is marked for candidates of more than one party invalidates all votes
17
cast by the elector for candidates in the primary.
AB506,17
18
Section
17
.
7.08 (2) (b) of the statutes is amended to read:
AB506,10,23
19
7.08
(2)
(b) The certified list of candidates for president and vice president
20
who have been
nominated at a national convention by a party entitled to a
separate
21
column or row on the
partisan primary ballot or for whom electors have been
22
nominated under s. 8.20 shall be sent as soon as possible after the closing date for
23
filing nomination papers, but no later than the deadlines established in s. 10.06.
AB506,18
24
Section
18
.
7.50 (1) (d) of the statutes is repealed.
AB506,19
1
Section
19
.
7.50 (2) (g) of the statutes is amended to read:
AB506,11,4
2
7.50
(2)
(g) In partisan primaries, if an elector writes in the name of an
3
individual
on a ballot
in a column or row
other than the one on which that
4
individual’s name is shown as a candidate, the write-in vote may not be counted.
AB506,20
5
Section
20
.
8.16 (1) of the statutes is amended to read:
AB506,11,10
6
8.16
(1)
Except as provided in sub. (2), the person who receives the greatest
7
number of votes for an office
on a party ballot
at any partisan primary, regardless of
8
whether the person’s name appears on the ballot, shall be the party’s candidate for
9
the office, and the person’s name shall so appear on the official ballot at the next
10
election.
AB506,21
11
Section
21
.
8.16 (6) of the statutes is amended to read:
AB506,11,15
12
8.16
(6)
The persons who receive the greatest number of votes respectively for
13
the offices of governor and lieutenant governor
on
for
any party
ballot
at a primary
14
shall be the party’s joint candidates for the offices, and their names shall so appear
15
on the official ballot at the next election.
AB506,22
16
Section
22
.
8.16 (7) of the statutes is amended to read:
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