Responsive Gov’s Grade TL;DR

The Wisconsin State Legislature passed a host of anti-voter legislation this year. And once again, Governor Evers stepped in to veto the attempts to further restrict voting access in the state. Unfortunately, despite strong bipartisan support for legislation to allow ballot preprocessing, the Legislature failed to get it across the finish line. Therefore, Wisconsin received a C on this year’s progress report.

Looking Back

Where Wisconsin Started at the Beginning of 2024

• Automatic Voter Registration: No
• Online Voter Registration: DMV ID
• Same-Day Registration: Yes
• Restoration of Rights: Parole and/or Probation Disenfranchisement
• Vote by Mail: No-Excuse
• Electronic Registration Information Center Member: Yes
• Early Voting Opportunities: In-Person Absentee
• ID Requirements: Strict Photo ID

Relying on the Cost of Voting Index for Wisconsin as of 2024, we considered the state a bottom tier state for pre-existing voting policy and compared its 2024 activity against other bottom tier states.

How Our Tier Compares

• COVI (2024): 46th
• EPI Score (2022): 13th
• CLC State Scorecard (2022): 5/10
• MAP Democracy Rating (2024): FAIR

2024: This Past Year

Legislative Action

Among the positive and negative measures passed by the Wisconsin State Legislature this past session, one pro-voter measure ultimately became law. The restrictive measures passed by the Legislature were successfully vetoed by the governor.

• AB 298 sets strict procedures for closing polling places within 30 days of an election including prohibiting closing locations unless the local governing body, by majority vote, decides an emergency exists, and prohibiting closing more than half of the polling places in a municipality.

Executive Action

• AB 543 would have required election observer access within 3 feet of voters and subjected election officials to harsh penalties for violating the laws including prison time, fines, and loss of their employment.
• AB 570 attempted to expand the list of reasons that mail ballots could be rejected to include minor omissions by the voter or their witness, among other things.
• AB 572 required retirement home and residential care facility administrators to notify the designated contact for all residents to inform them of when special voting deputies would be visiting the facilities to assist the residents in voting.
• SB 736 would have subjected counties to additional random post-election audits by the Legislative Performance Bureau, despite the fact that Wisconsin already has robust post-election audit procedures.