Republicans propose election bills amid new early voting push

 

MADISON, Wis. (CBS 58) -- Republican lawmakers are introducing more election bills to implement certain changes on the heels of a new effort encouraging conservatives to cast a ballot before Election Day.

One proposal introduced by Rep. Scott Allen (R-Waukesha) and Sen. Romaine Quinn (R-Cameron) would require absentee ballots to contain a watermark when they are mailed to voters.

Allen said the proposal would help ease voters' distrust in absentee voting, while election officials call it unnecessary due to security protocols already in place.

"If we're going to expand the use of the mail-in absentee ballots…why not make it as secure as possible," Allen said. "Let's build the confidence to enhance security techniques like watermarking the mail-in ballots."

Since the 2020 election, former President Donald Trump has spread misinformation about absentee voting by telling supporters it's an avenue for rampant fraud. Multiple reviews and investigations have proven fraud is exceedingly rare, including one conducted by a conservative law firm.

Dane County Clerk Scott McDonell said the watermark bill would cause more headaches and solve problems that don't exist.

"Watermarks would do absolutely nothing except make it hard for the machine to read the ballot," McDonell said. "This is what happens when people who have no idea how elections are run, write bills. They don't consult us. They just make up these bills that do nothing."

Allen argues there's a "significant percentage of the population that doesn't trust" the absentee ballot system.

"We're not relitigating any prior election, we're not saying there's rampant fraud… what we're saying is, we are expanding the use of voting by mail, and it makes sense to make it as secure as possible," Allen said.

If a ballot is photocopied, there are layers of security in place to catch a fraudulent ballot, McDonell said. All absentee ballots are initiated by a clerk and sent in an envelope that must be completed by the voter before it's counted.

A similar bill was introduced last year, but it never received a public hearing. It currently does not have bipartisan support, but another absentee ballot proposal introduced this session does.

The bill would require military voters to provide proof of their government issued ID when requesting an absentee ballot. Rep. Scott Krug, the Republican chair of the Assembly Committee on Campaign and Elections, said his committee would only consider legislation that has bipartisan support.

The proposal received a hearing last month along with other bills that aim to fix problems that occurred while administrating elections, some during the midst of a pandemic. The measures are drastically different than proposals introduced last session that sought to overhaul how elections are administered, which Gov. Tony Evers vetoed.

Another bill proposed this week would lower the cost of an electronic copy of Wisconsin's voter registration list.

Under the proposal bill, "a person may obtain a copy of the official voter registration list for Wisconsin, or any portion of the list, electronically by paying a fee of $250 or less as established by the Elections Commission."

The commission can charge up to $12,500 for documentation that lists every registered voter in Wisconsin.

After Joe Biden narrowly defeated Trump in the battleground state, a series of social media posts falsely claimed the number of people who voted in Wisconsin exceeded the number of registered voters in the state.

Those false rumors were debunked by the state elections commission who calculates voter turnout based on the entire voting-age population, not just registered voters. Any eligible person over the age of 18 can also show up at a poll and register to vote on Election Day.

These efforts come after state and national Republicans launched a campaign Monday to motivate their base to vote absentee. It marks a shift in the party's tone as they hope to match early vote strategies used by Democrats.