State Codes and Statutes

6.79

6.79 Recording electors.

6.79(1m)

(1m) Separate poll lists. Two election officials at each election ward shall be in charge of and shall maintain 2 separate poll lists containing information relating to all persons voting. The municipal clerk may elect to maintain the information on the lists manually or electronically. If the lists are maintained electronically, the officials shall enter the information into an electronic data recording system that enables retrieval of printed copies of the lists at the polling place. The system employed is subject to the approval of the board.

6.79(2)

(2) Voting procedure.

6.79(2)(a)

(a) Unless information on the poll list is entered electronically, the municipal clerk shall supply the inspectors with 2 copies of the most current official registration list or lists prepared under s. 6.36 (2) (a) for use as poll lists at the polling place. Except as provided in sub. (6), each person, before receiving a serial number, shall state his or her full name and address. The officials shall verify that the name and address provided by the person are the same as the person's name and address on the poll list.

6.79(2)(b)

(b) Upon the poll list, after the name of each elector, the officials shall enter a serial number for each elector in the order that votes are cast, beginning with number one.

6.79(2)(c)

(c) The officials shall maintain separate lists for electors who are voting under s. 6.15, 6.29, or 6.55 (2) or (3) and electors who are reassigned from another polling place under s. 5.25 (5) (b) and shall enter the full name, address, and serial number of each of these electors on the appropriate separate list. Alternatively, if the poll list is maintained electronically, the officials may enter on the poll list the information that would otherwise appear on a separate list if the information that would be obtainable from a separate list is entered on the poll list.

6.79(2)(d)

(d) If the poll list indicates that proof of residence under s. 6.34 is required, the officials shall require the elector to provide proof of residence. If proof of residence is provided, the officials shall verify that the name and address on the identification document submitted as proof of residence provided is the same as the name and address shown on the registration list. If proof of residence is required and not provided, the officials shall offer the opportunity for the elector to vote under s. 6.97.

6.79(2)(dm)

(dm) If the poll list indicates that the elector is ineligible to vote because the elector's name appears on the current list provided by the department of corrections under s. 301.03 (20m), the inspectors shall inform the elector of this fact. If the elector maintains that he or she is eligible to vote in the election, the inspectors shall provide the elector with a ballot and, after the elector casts his or her vote, shall challenge the ballot as provided in s. 6.92 and treat the ballot in the manner provided in s. 6.95.

6.79(2)(e)

(e) The officials shall then provide each elector with a slip bearing the same serial number as is recorded for the elector upon the poll list or separate list.

6.79(3)

(3) Refusal to give name and address. Except as provided in sub. (6), if any elector offering to vote at any polling place refuses to give his or her name and address, the elector may not be permitted to vote.

6.79(4)

(4) Supplemental information. When any elector provides proof of residence under s. 6.15, 6.29 or 6.55 (2), the election officials shall enter the type of identifying document provided on the poll list, or separate list maintained under sub. (2) (c). If the document submitted as proof of identity or residence includes a number which applies only to the individual holding that document, the election officials shall also enter that number on the list. When any elector corroborates the registration identity or residence of any person offering to vote under s. 6.55 (2) (b) or (c), or the registration identity or residence of any person registering on election day under s. 6.86 (3) (a) 2., the election officials shall also enter the name and address of the corroborator next to the name of the elector whose information is being corroborated on the poll list, or the separate list maintained under sub. (2) (c). When any person offering to vote has been challenged and taken the oath, following the person's name on the poll list, the officials shall enter the word "Sworn".

6.79(6)

(6) Confidential names and addresses. An elector who has a confidential listing under s. 6.47 (2) may present his or her identification card issued under s. 6.47 (3), or give his or her name and identification serial number issued under s. 6.47 (3), in lieu of stating his or her name and address under sub. (2). If the elector's name and identification serial number appear on the confidential portion of the list, the inspectors shall issue a voting serial number to the elector, record that number on the poll list and permit the elector to vote.

6.79 - ANNOT.

History: 1971 c. 304 s. 29 (2); 1975 c. 85, 199, 200; 1977 c. 394, 447; 1979 c. 260, 311, 355; 1985 a. 304; 1989 a. 192; 1999 a. 49, 182; 2001 a. 38, 51; 2003 a. 265, 327; 2005 a. 451; 2007 a. 96.

6.79 - ANNOT.

Even rational restrictions on the right to vote are invidious if they are unrelated to voter qualifications. However evenhanded restrictions that protect the integrity and reliability of the electoral process itself are not invidious. An Indiana statute requiring citizens voting in person on election day, or casting a ballot in person at the office of the circuit court clerk prior to election day, to present photo identification issued by the government did not violate constitutional standards. Crawford v. Marion County Election Board, 553 U. S. ___, 170 L. Ed. 2d 574, 128 S. Ct. 1610 (2008).