GOP elections bills advance in Wisconsin Assembly

Assembly lawmakers on Wednesday approved a slate of GOP-authored election bills, including one that would change how absentee ballots are processed and eliminate the use of central count locations.

But the measures approved do not include a plan to begin processing absentee ballots a day before the election, an idea that has long enjoyed bipartisan support. Republican backers of that plan — also known as Monday processing — have said there is not enough GOP support to get it across the finish line.

Instead, the bill approved Wednesday has many other provisions. It would ban the use of central count locations, where all absentee ballots from different wards are tallied at a single site. It would require any authorized absentee ballot drop box to be in a permanent building — as opposed to a mobile collection van or pop-up spot in a park. It would require clerks to return improperly filled ballots to voters, and elections officials to text voters that they’ve received their absentee ballot applications.

While Democrats have supported elements of the proposal in the past, they criticized the bill as a whole, saying it does not address what voters are concerned about.



https://www.wpr.org/news/assembly-republicans-elections-monday-processing-absentee-ballots