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AB800: Bill Text
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2025 - 2026 LEGISLATURE
LRB-5548/1
MPG:cjs&wlj
2025 ASSEMBLY BILL 800
December 23, 2025 - Introduced by Representatives
Snodgrass
,
Anderson
,
Andraca
,
Arney
,
Brown
,
Fitzgerald
,
Joers
,
Neubauer
,
Palmeri
,
Rivera-Wagner
,
Roe
,
Sheehan
,
Sinicki
,
Spaude
,
Stroud
,
Subeck
and
Udell
, cosponsored by Senators
Spreitzer
,
Carpenter
,
Dassler-Alfheim
,
Drake
,
Habush Sinykin
,
Hesselbein
,
L. Johnson
,
Keyeski
,
Larson
,
Pfaff
,
Ratcliff
,
Roys
,
Smith
,
Wall
and
Wirch
. Referred to Committee on Campaigns and Elections.
AB800,1,5
1
An Act
to renumber and amend
7.52 (1) (a);
to amend
5.84 (1), 6.15 (4) (a),
2
6.15 (4) (b), 6.86 (1) (b), 6.87 (6), 6.88 (1), 6.88 (2), 7.52 (2), 7.52 (3) (a), 7.52 (4)
3
(a) and 7.52 (9);
to create
6.88 (4), 7.52 (1) (d) to (f), 7.52 (10) and 7.52 (11) of
4
the statutes;
relating to:
early canvassing of absentee ballots and providing a
5
penalty.
Analysis by the Legislative Reference Bureau
Under current law, absentee ballots may not be canvassed until election day. Current law additionally provides that any municipality may provide by ordinance that, in lieu of canvassing absentee ballots at polling places, a municipal board of absentee ballot canvassers established by the municipality is responsible for canvassing all absentee ballots received by the municipal clerk by 8 p.m. on election day. In such a municipality, the board of absentee ballot canvassers is required to convene a meeting any time after the polls open and before 10 p.m. on election day to canvass the absentee ballots cast in the municipality in the election. Among the requirements governing such a meeting, any member of the public has the same right of access to the meeting that the individual would have to observe the canvassing of absentee ballots at a polling place.
This bill does all of the following:
1. Allows the municipal board of absentee ballot canvassers in a municipality having an ordinance described above to begin canvassing absentee ballots on the day before an election.
2. Provides that the board of absentee ballot canvassers must publicly convene no earlier than 7 a.m. on the day before the election and no later than 10 p.m. on election day to canvass absentee ballots for the municipality. Under the bill, if the board of absentee ballot canvassers convenes on the day before the election, the board must recess no later than 8 p.m. on that day and may not reconvene before 7 a.m. on election day.
3. Requires that when the meeting of the board of absentee ballot canvassers recesses on the day before the election, the board must secure the automatic tabulating equipment, and the areas where the programmed media, memory devices, and absentee ballots are housed, with tamper-evident security seals in a double-lock location such as a locked cabinet inside a locked office. Before resuming the canvassing of absentee ballots, the board must check and record the status of each tamper-evident seal and must immediately notify the Elections Commission of any evidence of tampering. If the board discovers evidence of tampering with respect to automatic tabulating equipment, the canvass may not resume until the equipment is replaced and the replacement equipment is tested. Also, if the board discovers evidence of tampering, the Elections Commission must verify the accuracy of the absentee ballot count by ordering the municipality to conduct a recount after the election and conducting an audit of the election equipment.
4. Provides that votes on absentee ballots canvassed early under the bill may not be tallied until after the polls close on election day.
5. Provides that no person may act in a manner that would give him or her the ability to know or to provide information on the tallied results from the ballots canvassed under the bill before the polls close on election day. Whoever intentionally violates that prohibition is guilty of a Class I felony, the penalty for which is a fine not to exceed $10,000 or imprisonment not to exceed three years and six months, or both.
6. Authorizes municipalities not having a board of absentee ballot canvassers and having one polling place only to begin processing absentee ballots beginning no earlier than 7 a.m. on the day before the election, subject to the same requirements described above. In order to canvass absentee ballots early, such a municipality must provide by ordinance that absentee ballots received by the municipal clerk may be canvassed on the day before the election. Prior to enacting the ordinance, the municipal clerk must notify the Elections Commission in writing of the proposed ordinance and must consult with the Elections Commission concerning the early canvassing of absentee ballots.
Finally, under current law, criminal penalties are provided for election officials who commit certain specified kinds of election fraud. Otherwise, the willful neglect or refusal of an election official to perform a duty prescribed under the election laws is punishable by disqualification to act as an election official for five years. Under the bill, a member of the municipal board of absentee ballot canvassers or other election official who willfully neglects or refuses to perform any of the duties prescribed under the bill, and other duties prescribed under current law, with respect to the canvassing of absentee ballots by a municipal board of absentee ballot canvassers is guilty of a Class I felony.
For further information see the local fiscal estimate, which will be printed as an appendix to this bill.
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.
The people of the state of Wisconsin, represented in senate and assembly, do enact as follows:
AB800,1
1
Section
1
.
5.84 (1) of the statutes is amended to read:
AB800,3,6
2
5.84
(1)
Where any municipality employs an electronic voting system
which
3
that
utilizes automatic tabulating equipment,
either at the polling place or at a
4
central counting location,
the municipal clerk shall, on any day not more than 10
5
days prior to the
election
day on which the equipment is to be utilized
in an election
,
6
have the equipment tested to ascertain that it will correctly count the votes cast for
7
all offices and on all measures. Public notice of the time and place of the test shall
8
be given by the clerk at least 48 hours prior to the test by
publication of a class 1
9
notice under ch. 985 in one or more newspapers published within the municipality
10
if a newspaper is published therein, otherwise in a newspaper of general circulation
11
therein
posting notice as provided in s. 10.04 or 10.05, as applicable, and on the
12
municipality’s website if it has one
. The test shall be open to the public. The test
13
shall be conducted by processing a preaudited group of ballots so marked as to
14
record a predetermined number of valid votes for each candidate and on each
15
referendum. The test shall include for each office one or more ballots which have
16
votes in excess of the number allowed by law and, for a partisan primary election,
1
one or more ballots which have votes cast for candidates of more than one
2
recognized political party, in order to test the ability of the automatic tabulating
3
equipment to reject such votes. If any error is detected, the municipal clerk shall
4
ascertain the cause and correct the error. The clerk shall make an errorless count
5
before the automatic tabulating equipment is approved by the clerk for use in the
6
election.
AB800,2
7
Section
2
.
6.15 (4) (a) of the statutes is amended to read:
AB800,3,12
8
6.15
(4)
(a) Clerks holding new resident ballots shall deliver them to the
9
election inspectors in the proper ward or election district where the new residents
10
reside or, in municipalities where absentee ballots are canvassed under s. 7.52, to
11
the municipal board of absentee ballot canvassers
when it convenes
at a meeting
12
convened
under s. 7.52 (1), as provided by s. 6.88 for absentee ballots.
AB800,3
13
Section
3
.
6.15 (4) (b) of the statutes is amended to read:
AB800,3,19
14
6.15
(4)
(b) During polling hours,
or on the day before the election under s.
15
6.88 (4),
the inspectors shall open each carrier envelope, announce the elector’s
16
name, check the affidavit for proper execution, and check the voting qualifications
17
for the ward, if any. In municipalities where absentee ballots are canvassed under
18
s. 7.52, the municipal board of absentee ballot canvassers shall perform this
19
function at a meeting of the board of absentee ballot canvassers.
AB800,4
20
Section
4
.
6.86 (1) (b) of the statutes is amended to read:
AB800,4,22
21
6.86
(1)
(b) Except as provided in this section, if application is made by mail,
22
the application shall be received no later than 5 p.m. on the 5th day immediately
23
preceding the election. If application is made in person, the application shall be
1
made no earlier than 14 days preceding the election and no later than the Sunday
2
preceding the election. No application may be received on a legal holiday. A
3
municipality shall specify the hours in the notice under s. 10.01 (2) (e). The
4
municipal clerk or an election official shall witness the certificate for any in-person
5
absentee ballot cast. Except as provided in par. (c), if the elector is making written
6
application for an absentee ballot at the partisan primary, the general election, the
7
presidential preference primary, or a special election for national office, and the
8
application indicates that the elector is a military elector, as defined in s. 6.34 (1),
9
the application shall be received by the municipal clerk no later than 5 p.m. on
10
election day. If the application indicates that the reason for requesting an absentee
11
ballot is that the elector is a sequestered juror, the application shall be received no
12
later than 5 p.m. on election day. If the application is received after 5 p.m. on the
13
Friday immediately preceding the election, the municipal clerk or the clerk’s agent
14
shall immediately take the ballot to the court in which the elector is serving as a
15
juror and deposit it with the judge. The judge shall recess court, as soon as
16
convenient, and give the elector the ballot. The judge shall then witness the voting
17
procedure as provided in s. 6.87 and shall deliver the ballot to the clerk or agent of
18
the clerk who shall deliver it to the
polling place
election inspectors of the proper
19
ward or election district
or, in municipalities where absentee ballots are canvassed
20
under s. 7.52, to the municipal clerk as required in s. 6.88. If application is made
21
under sub. (2) or (2m), the application may be received no later than 5 p.m. on the
22
Friday immediately preceding the election.
AB800,5
23
Section
5
.
6.87 (6) of the statutes is amended to read:
AB800,5,7
1
6.87
(6)
The ballot shall be returned so it is delivered to the
polling place
2
election inspectors of the proper ward or election district
no later than 8 p.m. on
3
election day. Except in municipalities where absentee ballots are canvassed under
4
s. 7.52, if the municipal clerk receives an absentee ballot on election day, the clerk
5
shall secure the ballot and cause the ballot to be delivered to the polling place
6
serving the elector’s residence before 8 p.m. Any ballot not mailed or delivered as
7
provided in this subsection may not be counted.
AB800,6
8
Section
6
.
6.88 (1) of the statutes is amended to read:
AB800,6,2
9
6.88
(1)
When an absentee ballot arrives at the office of the municipal clerk,
10
or at an alternate site under s. 6.855, if applicable, the clerk shall enclose it,
11
unopened, in a carrier envelope which shall be securely sealed and endorsed with
12
the name and official title of the clerk, and the words “This envelope contains the
13
ballot of an absent elector and must be opened
in the same room where votes are
14
being cast at the polls during polling hours on election day or, in municipalities
15
where absentee ballots are canvassed under s. 7.52, stats., at a meeting of the
16
municipal board of absentee ballot canvassers under s. 7.52, stats
only as provided
17
by law
.” If the elector is a military elector, as defined in s. 6.34 (1), or an overseas
18
elector, regardless of whether the elector qualifies as a resident of this state under
19
s. 6.10, and the ballot was received by the elector by facsimile transmission or
20
electronic mail and is accompanied by a separate certificate, the clerk shall enclose
21
the ballot in a certificate envelope and securely append the completed certificate to
22
the outside of the envelope before enclosing the ballot in the carrier envelope. The
1
clerk shall keep the ballot in the clerk’s office or at the alternate site, if applicable
2
until delivered, as required in sub. (2).
AB800,7
3
Section
7
.
6.88 (2) of the statutes is amended to read:
AB800,6,16
4
6.88
(2)
When an absentee ballot is received by the municipal clerk prior to
5
the delivery of the official ballots to the election officials of the ward in which the
6
elector resides or, where absentee ballots are canvassed under s. 7.52, to the
7
municipal board of absentee ballot canvassers, the municipal clerk shall seal the
8
ballot envelope in the carrier envelope as provided under sub. (1), and shall enclose
9
the envelope in a package and deliver the package to the election inspectors of the
10
proper ward or election district or, in municipalities where absentee ballots are
11
canvassed under s. 7.52, to the municipal board of absentee ballot canvassers
when
12
it convenes
at a meeting convened
under s. 7.52 (1). When the official ballots for the
13
ward or election district have been delivered to the election inspectors before the
14
receipt of an absentee ballot, the clerk shall immediately enclose the envelope
15
containing the absentee ballot in a carrier envelope as provided under sub. (1) and
16
deliver it in person to the proper election officials.
AB800,8
17
Section
8
.
6.88 (4) of the statutes is created to read:
AB800,6,21
18
6.88
(4)
(a) 1. The governing body of any municipality not specified in s. 7.52
19
(1) (a) and having one polling place only may provide by ordinance that absentee
20
ballots received by the municipal clerk may be canvassed on the day before the
21
election.
AB800,7,2
22
2. Prior to enacting an ordinance under subd. 1., the municipal clerk shall
1
notify the commission in writing of the proposed enactment and shall consult with
2
the commission concerning administration of this subsection.
AB800,7,5
3
(am) In any municipality having an ordinance under par. (a), subject to pars.
4
(b) to (e), the election inspectors may convene a meeting to begin canvassing
5
absentee ballots no earlier than 7 a.m. on the day before the election.
AB800,7,11
6
(b) The municipal clerk shall give at least 60 days’ notice of a meeting under
7
this subsection. Any member of the public has the same right of access to observe
8
the proceedings at a meeting under this subsection that the individual would have
9
under s. 7.41. The election inspectors may order the removal of any individual
10
exercising the right to observe the proceedings if the individual disrupts the
11
meeting.
AB800,8,2
12
(c) When the meeting of the election inspectors recesses on the day before the
13
election, the election inspectors shall secure the automatic tabulating equipment,
14
and the areas where the programmed media, memory devices, and absentee ballots
15
are housed, with tamper-evident security seals in a double-lock location such as a
16
locked cabinet inside a locked office. Before resuming the canvassing of absentee
17
ballots on election day, the election inspectors shall check and record the status of
18
each tamper-evident seal. The election inspectors shall immediately notify the
19
commission of any evidence of tampering. If the election inspectors discover
20
evidence of tampering with respect to automatic tabulating equipment, the canvass
21
may not resume until the equipment is replaced and the replacement equipment is
22
tested as provided in s. 5.84, except that public notice need not be provided 48 hours
23
prior to the test. If the election inspectors discover evidence of tampering under
1
this paragraph, the commission shall verify the accuracy of the absentee ballot
2
count in the municipality in the election by doing all of the following:
AB800,8,5
3
1. Ordering the municipality to conduct a recount after the election of all
4
absentee ballots cast in the municipality in the election. The commission’s order
5
shall establish procedures for the recount consistent with s. 9.01.
AB800,8,7
6
2. Auditing the election equipment in the same manner as audits are
7
conducted under s. 7.08 (6).
AB800,8,9
8
(d) Votes on absentee ballots canvassed under this subsection may not be
9
tallied until after the polls close on election day.
AB800,8,13
10
(e) No person may intentionally act in a manner that would give him or her
11
the ability to know or to provide information on the tallied results from the ballots
12
canvassed under this subsection before the polls close on election day. Whoever
13
intentionally violates this paragraph is guilty of a Class I felony.
AB800,8,15
14
(f) An ordinance under par. (a) may not take effect less than 60 days before an
15
election.
AB800,9
16
Section
9
.
7.52 (1) (a) of the statutes is renumbered 7.52 (1) (a) 1. and
17
amended to read:
AB800,9,11
18
7.52
(1)
(a) 1. The governing body of any municipality may provide by
19
ordinance that, in lieu of canvassing absentee ballots at polling places under s. 6.88,
20
the municipal board of absentee ballot canvassers designated under s. 7.53 (2m)
21
shall, at each election held in the municipality, canvass all absentee ballots received
22
by the municipal clerk by 8 p.m. on election day. Prior to enacting an ordinance
23
under this
subsection
subdivision
, the municipal clerk or board of election
1
commissioners of the municipality shall notify the
elections
commission in writing
2
of the proposed enactment and shall consult with the
elections
commission
3
concerning administration of this section. At every election held in the
4
municipality following enactment of an ordinance under this
subsection
5
subdivision
, the board of absentee ballot canvassers shall, any time after
the
6
opening of the polls
7 a.m. on the day before the election
and before 10 p.m. on
7
election day, publicly convene to
count the
canvass
absentee ballots for the
8
municipality.
If the board of absentee ballot canvassers convenes on the day before
9
the election, the board of absentee ballot canvassers shall recess no later than 8
10
p.m. on that day, and the meeting shall reconvene no earlier than 7 a.m. on election
11
day.
AB800,9,18
12
2.
The municipal clerk shall give at least
48 hours’
60 days’
notice of
any
the
13
meeting under this subsection. Any member of the public has the same right of
14
access to a meeting of the municipal board of absentee ballot canvassers under this
15
subsection that the individual would have under s. 7.41 to observe the proceedings
16
at a polling place. The board of absentee ballot canvassers may order the removal of
17
any individual exercising the right to observe the proceedings if the individual
18
disrupts the meeting.
AB800,10
19
Section
10
.
7.52 (1) (d) to (f) of the statutes are created to read:
AB800,9,23
20
7.52
(1)
(d) When the meeting of the board of absentee ballot canvassers
21
recesses on the day before the election, the board of absentee ballot canvassers shall
22
secure the automatic tabulating equipment, and the areas where the programmed
23
media, memory devices, and absentee ballots are housed, with tamper-evident
1
security seals in a double-lock location such as a locked cabinet inside a locked
2
office. Before resuming the canvassing of ballots on election day, the board of
3
absentee ballot canvassers shall check and record the status of each tamper-evident
4
seal. The board of absentee ballot canvassers shall immediately notify the
5
commission of any evidence of tampering. If the board of absentee ballot canvassers
6
discovers evidence of tampering with respect to automatic tabulating equipment,
7
the canvass may not resume until the equipment is replaced and the replacement
8
equipment is tested as provided in s. 5.84, except that public notice need not be
9
provided 48 hours prior to the test. If the board of absentee ballot canvassers
10
discovers evidence of tampering under this paragraph, the commission shall verify
11
the accuracy of the absentee ballot count in the municipality in the election by doing
12
all of the following:
AB800,10,15
13
1. Ordering the municipality to conduct a recount after the election of all
14
absentee ballots cast in the municipality in the election. The commission’s order
15
shall establish procedures for the recount consistent with s. 9.01.
AB800,10,17
16
2. Auditing the election equipment in the same manner as audits are
17
conducted under s. 7.08 (6).
AB800,10,19
18
(e) Votes on absentee ballots canvassed under this section may not be tallied
19
until after the polls close on election day.
AB800,10,23
20
(f) No person may intentionally act in a manner that would give him or her the
21
ability to know or to provide information on the tallied results from the ballots
22
canvassed under this section before the polls close on election day. Whoever
23
intentionally violates this paragraph is guilty of a Class I felony.
AB800,11
1
Section
11
.
7.52 (2) of the statutes is amended to read:
AB800,11,10
2
7.52
(2)
In counting the absentee ballots, the board of absentee ballot
3
canvassers shall use 2 duplicate copies of a single poll list for the entire
4
municipality prepared in accordance with s. 6.36 (2). Upon
accepting
reviewing
5
each absentee ballot
certificate envelope to ensure that it satisfies all applicable
6
legal requirements
, the board of absentee ballot canvassers shall enter a
poll list
7
sequential count
number on the poll list next to the name of the elector who voted
8
the ballot, beginning with the number one. If the elector’s name does not appear on
9
the poll list, the board of absentee ballot canvassers shall enter the number on a
10
separate list maintained under this subsection.
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