Wisconsin SB 943: Relating to: residency requirement for purposes of voting.

Bill Text

LRB-5518/1
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2023 - 2024 LEGISLATURE
2023 SENATE BILL 943
January 19, 2024 - Introduced by Senators SMITH, SPREITZER, AGARD and ROYS,
cosponsored by Representatives HAYWOOD, SNODGRASS, ORTIZ-VELEZ,
NEUBAUER, EMERSON, CONLEY, JOERS, J. ANDERSON, RATCLIFF, OHNSTAD, STUBBS,
SUBECK, MOORE OMOKUNDE, JACOBSON and MADISON. Referred to Committee on
Shared Revenue, Elections and Consumer Protection.
AN ACT to amend 6.02 (1), 6.02 (2), 6.10 (3), 6.10 (4), 6.15 (1), 6.15 (2) (a), 6.18
(form), 6.22 (7), 6.29 (2) (a), 6.55 (2) (a) (form), 6.85 (2), 6.87 (2) (form), 6.94 and
7.52 (5) (b) of the statutes; relating to: residency requirement for purposes of
voting.
Analysis by the Legislative Reference Bureau
Under current law, with limited exceptions, an otherwise eligible voter must be
a resident of Wisconsin and of the municipality and ward, if any, where the voter is
voting for 28 days before an election in order to vote in the election in that
municipality and ward. This bill shortens that residency requirement from 28 days
to 10 days.
The people of the state of Wisconsin, represented in senate and assembly, do
enact as follows:
SECTION 1. 6.02 (1) of the statutes is amended to read:
6.02 (1) Every U.S. citizen age 18 or older who has resided in an election district
or ward for 28 10 consecutive days before any election where the citizen offers to vote
is an eligible elector.
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SECTION 2 SENATE BILL 943
SECTION 2. 6.02 (2) of the statutes is amended to read:
6.02 (2) Any U.S. citizen age 18 or older who moves within this state later than
28 10 days before an election shall vote at his or her previous ward or election district
if the person is otherwise qualified. If the elector can comply with the 28-day 10-day
residence requirement at the new address and is otherwise qualified, he or she may
vote in the new ward or election district.
SECTION 3. 6.10 (3) of the statutes is amended to read:
6.10 (3) When an elector moves his or her residence from one ward or
municipality to another ward or municipality within the state at least 28 10 days
before the election, the elector may vote in and be considered a resident of the new
ward or municipality where residing upon registering at the proper polling place or
other registration location in the new ward or municipality under s. 6.55 (2) or 6.86
(3) (a) 2. If the elector moves his or her residence later than 28 10 days before an
election, the elector shall vote in the elector's former ward or municipality if
otherwise qualified to vote there.
SECTION 4. 6.10 (4) of the statutes is amended to read:
6.10 (4) The residence of an unmarried person sleeping in one ward and
boarding in another is the place where the person sleeps. The residence of an
unmarried person in a transient vocation, a teacher or a student who boards at
different places for part of the week, month, or year, if one of the places is the
residence of the person's parents, is the place of the parents' residence unless through
registration or similar act the person elects to establish a residence elsewhere. If the
person has no parents and if the person has not registered elsewhere, the person's
residence shall be at the place that the person considered his or her residence in
preference to any other for at least 28 10 consecutive days before an election. If this
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SECTION 4 SENATE BILL 943
place is within the municipality, the person is entitled to all the privileges and subject
to all the duties of other citizens having their residence there, including voting.
SECTION 5. 6.15 (1) of the statutes is amended to read:
6.15 (1) QUALIFICATIONS. Any person who was or who is an eligible elector under
ss. 6.02 and 6.03, except that he or she has been a resident of this state for less than
28 10 consecutive days prior to the date of the presidential election, is entitled to vote
for the president and vice president but for no other offices. The fact that the person
was not registered to vote in the state from which he or she moved does not prevent
voting in this state if the elector is otherwise qualified.
SECTION 6. 6.15 (2) (a) of the statutes is amended to read:
6.15 (2) (a) The elector's request for the application form may be made in person
to the municipal clerk of the municipality where the person resides. Application may
be made not sooner than 27 9 days nor later than 5 p.m. on the day before the election,
or may be made at the proper polling place in the ward or election district in which
the elector resides. If an elector makes application before election day, the
application form shall be returned to the municipal clerk after the affidavit has been
signed in the presence of the clerk or any officer authorized by law to administer
oaths. The affidavit shall be in substantially the following form:
STATE OF WISCONSIN
County of ....
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