The first, AB 203, which I authored with Senator Craig, allows in-person absentee voters to insert their ballots directly into voting machines, which accomplishes three things. First, it allows the ballot to be returned to the voter if it is improperly filled out. Second, by inserting the ballot into the machine, it takes a photo of both sides of the ballot, adding voter integrity. And third, it reduces the amount of times the ballot will be touched, ultimately reducing costs. This new system provides more scrutiny, transparency and checkpoints to prevent voter fraud. Finally, there will no longer be an opportunity for an extra box of unprocessed ballots to miraculously appear at midnight.

Double Voting

One-person, one-vote is a basic tenet of fair elections. I teamed up with Senator Bernier to prosecute those who fraudulently try to double vote with bill AB 897. Currently, the Wisconsin Elections Committee (WEC) receives a report from the Electronic Registration Information Center (ERIC), as required by law. The bill requires WEC to check for double voting (people who vote in Wisconsin and another state) using the data that is already available in the report. The bill also requires WEC to refer any violations to the proper District Attorney (DA), or in some cases, the Attorney General for double voting felonies. AB 897 also requires municipal clerks to perform an audit for double voting and to report such violations to the DA and WEC.