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Counting Absentee Ballots
There is another plan to count absentee ballots ahead of Election Day in Wisconsin.
A number of Democrats introduced their own version of a Monday count proposal.
"[This] legislation to allow Wisconsin clerks to begin processing absentee ballots the day before Election Day," Sen. Mark Spreitzer, D-Beloit, Rep. Lee Snodgrass, D-Appleton, and Rep Clinton Anderson, D-Beloit, said in an announcement. "Forty-three other states permit election officials to begin processing absentee/mail ballots prior to the election including in Texas, Florida, Georgia, and Kansas."
The Democrats’ plan would allow local election managers to start “canvassing” absentee ballots at 7 a.m. on the Monday before Election Day, but they cannot “tally” them until after the polls close on Election Day.
“This critical legislation will give clerks the tools they need to report results quickly after polls close on Election Day,” Spreitzer said. “Proposals like this one have been authored by legislators of both parties because we all know that this is a secure and transparent way to speed up the tabulating process.”
Spreitzer already has a Monday count plan on file, but it has not moved at the Capitol.
The Republican plan, however, has not moved either. Rep. Scott Krug, R-Rome, shepherded a plan to count absentee ballots ahead of Election Day through the Assembly last year. It stalled in the Senate, largely because of fears that an early count could give one party an Election Day advantage. Krug this week said he’ll try again with his plan next year.
The Democrats’ Monday count plan would deal with any possible early vote leak by making it a felony to share early count information. Anyone convicted would face a $10,000 fine, and up to three-and-a-half years in prison.
Spreitzer said he hopes to see a vote on his plan when lawmakers return to the Capitol next year.
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