MADISON (WKOW) -- Democratic Gov. Tony Evers signed off on a series of bipartisan bills expected to ramp up the state's election administration and processes.
A proposal signed into law on Thursday bars a municipality from closing more than half of its polling locations within 30 days of an election. The bill also requires a governing agency, such as the City Council or Village Board, and the municipal clerk's approval to close a polling place.
Clerks would need to post a public notice of the closures through various channels to ensure that residents have been notified that a polling location is no longer operational. Residents would also have the opportunity to weigh in through a public hearing if a municipality decides to close a polling site.
The proposal comes in response to the April 2020 primary, where cities like Green Bay and Milwaukee significantly reduced the number of polling sites voters could access to just 5 locations in Milwaukee and 2 locations in Green Bay at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The bill's lead author, Senator André Jacque (R-DePere), says the passage of this legislation will help to ensure more transparency around the state's elections and help expand access for voters to exercise their right to vote.
"Anytime that you see, in Green Bay's case, more than 30 polling locations, reduced to people waiting in line for hours to be able to exercise their right to vote, being there in line 'til after midnight or not even being able to get to the bathroom," Jacque said." It obviously is a significant disenfranchisement and concern."
With the April primary just one week away, lawmakers are also taking action to safeguard the state's elections by establishing additional protections for election workers and clerks.
Evers also signed off on a proposal that would give election officials whistleblower protection if they lawfully reported cases of election irregularities or fraud. The bill also prohibits the disclosure of personally identifiable information of election officials and makes the intentional harming of any election worker a felony.
"When you have a volunteer-driven process, like voting on Election Day, we have a lot of dedicated volunteers around the state and they need to know that when they are doing their job to the best of their abilities, that they are not going to, suffer harm, and have to deal with any of the negative repercussions there," Jacque said.
The Senate voted to pass the bipartisan legislation 31 -1 after the Assembly unanimously approved the bill on a voice vote.
Jacque says while he's proud to see lawmakers from both sides prioritizing election integrity, he was discouraged that the governor chose to veto a separate proposal requiring the state's nonpartisan Legislative Audit Bureau to review how it administers its general elections.
"Very disappointed that the governor chose to disregard the recommendations of the Legislative Audit Bureau and make sure that we do have faith in the electoral process by making sure that our election administration procedures are really following the way that everybody would intend," Jacque said.
Governor Evers said in a statement he vetoed the proposal because he objects to delegating important election responsibilities to retirement home and residential care employees with limited training in election procedure.
Evers also objected to any additional barriers to voter access, including prohibiting clerks from fixing technical errors or minor mistakes on absentee ballots.
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