Wisconsin clerks could soon process absentee ballots a day early. Why is the change happening?

MADISON – A bill that would allow clerks to begin processing ballots one day early has cleared one of the final hurdles before it heads to Democratic Gov. Tony Evers, who is expected to sign it into law.

Bipartisan lawmakers and clerks have called the “Monday processing” bill a top priority, though it’s taken longer to get through the Senate. The committee in that chamber held a public hearing Tuesday.

Supporters say the change will prevent voter confusion and conspiracies that result from large amounts of ballots being processed late and added to totals, sometimes changing which candidate is in the lead.

“I’m sure every single representative here in this building has received emails of concern about processing, may it be that spike that you see — going to bed, assuming an election was already set, and then waking up with something completely different,” said bill author Sen. Rachael Cabral-Guevara, R-Appleton.

“You can understand why people are maybe frustrated or skeptical of a situation,” she said.

Why do lawmakers say the bill is needed?

Part of the impetus behind the bill is to give voters a more accurate picture of who is in the lead earlier on Tuesday night and prevent late-night “ballot dumps.”

“Results in these elections matter. Also, the appearances matter, too,” said Rep. Ron Tusler, R-Harrison, one of the leaders of the bill.

“It’s not fair to a losing party to look like they won and to feel like maybe they were cheated. It’s not fair to our clerks, who had nothing to do with Milwaukee’s absentee ballot counting problem, to be questioned whether they have ethically been counting their ballots,” he said.

In 2018, incumbent Gov. Scott Walker appeared to have a lead before the late tally of absentee ballots in the heavily Democratic Milwaukee flipped the race to Tony Evers.

In 2020, the later tally helped move Democrat Joe Biden over President Donald Trump, fueling the former president’s false claims about election fraud in Wisconsin.

More: As expected, Wisconsin’s election results not fully reported on Election Day due to surge in absentee ballots

More: In 2018 governor’s race, Milwaukee absentee ballots took center stage. That could happen again in November.

How do clerks feel about the bill?

Clerks have testified that the change would expedite results but stressed the change would uphold the “integrity of our electoral processes,” Green County Clerk Arianna Voegeli said.

“This bill enables election officials to efficiently manage their workflows by spreading it across two days, eliminating the undue pressure of completing meticulous tasks within an unrealistic time frame,” she said.

Claire Woodall, the executive director of the Milwaukee Election Commission, said the rise in mail-in and in-person absentee voting since the COVID-19 pandemic is not unique to Milwaukee and “is a new constant for us.”

“In a general election, we are oftentimes working over 20 hours straight, and it’s creating unnecessary risk for human error. The efficiency and accuracy that already exist will undoubtedly increase,” Woodall said.

Which communities will this apply to?

The bill makes early processing a requirement for communities that use central locations to count absentee ballots, such as Milwaukee, Beloit and Janesville. Election officials had asked lawmakers to make it optional.

It’s not a requirement for other communities, which can opt into the process by adopting an ordinance.

Would the votes actually get tallied early?

No. While ballots are counted when they get fed through machines, election officials can’t access the tally until the end of the night. They can do other tasks ahead on Monday, however, to speed up the process.

That includes ensuring the voter is not ineligible due to a felony conviction, checking that the envelope contains information like a witness signature and taking the ballot out of the envelope to run it through voting equipment.

Do other states do this?

Yes. Wisconsin is one of only a handful of states that don’t allow clerks to begin processing absentee ballots prior to Election Day.

Thirty-eight states allow for early processing, including red states like Florida and Texas and blue states like California and New York, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.

Where does the bill go from here?

The bill already passed the Assembly in early November on a voice vote, indicating it has bipartisan support, but there isn’t a tally of which lawmakers voted for or against it.

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“We’ve seen legislators, clerks and citizens alike evolve and change in their support or lack thereof in this process. And I get that, because our political environment has become increasingly hostile and charged,” said Kim Trueblood, the Republican clerk of Marathon County who supports the bill after previously registering opposition.

The Assembly committee voted for it unanimously, and the Senate committee still has to vote on it before it heads to the full Senate for a vote. The chamber isn’t expected to reconvene until next year.

Evers has said he will sign the bill if no “poison pills” are added. Some provisions originally in the bill, such as a requirement to verify voters’ citizenship status, have been removed.