Election legislation roundup: Wisconsin State Senate

By

Mercedes Yanora

As of Oct. 1, Ballotpedia has tracked 13 election-related bills in the Wisconsin State Senate since the beginning of the year. Of the 13, Ballotpedia tracked two from Sept. 25-Oct. 1. Republicans sponsored one, while a bipartisan group of legislators sponsored the other. The two bills are below:   

  • WI SR4: Calling on the Wisconsin Elections Commission to appoint an election administrator, Sen. Devin LeMahieu (R).
    • As introduced, this bill advises the Wisconsin Elections Commission to appoint an interim administrator and to submit a nomination for a permanent replacement.
  • WI SB433: Timeline for sending or transmitting presidential preference primary absentee ballots (FE), Reps. Clinton Anderson (D), Deb Andraca (D), Sue Conley (D), David Considine (D), Jenna Jacobson (D), Alex Joers (D), Sylvia Ortiz-Velez (D), Lisa Subeck (D), Elijah Behnke (R), Ty Bodden (R), Robert Brooks (R), Cindi Duchow (R), James Edming (R), Rick Gundrum (R), Scott Krug (R), Dave Maxey (R), Tom Michalski (R), Nik Rettinger (R), and Peter Schmidt (R), and Sens. Mark Spreitzer (D), Joan Ballweg (R), Mary Felzkowski (R), Dan Knodl (R), and Duey Stroebel (R).
    • A summary has not been provided yet.

During the week of Sept. 25-Oct. 1, Ballotpedia tracked nine Senate election-related bills nationally. As of Oct. 1, Ballotpedia has tracked 1,184 Senate bills nationally. Ballotpedia tracked the most Senate bills this year in the New York State Senate with 166, while Ballotpedia tracked the fewest Senate bills in the Vermont State Senate with two.

As of Oct. 1, Ballotpedia has tracked 540 Senate bills in Democratic trifectas and 475 Senate bills in Republican trifectas. A trifecta is when one political party holds the governorship and majorities in both chambers of the state legislature. Ballotpedia has tracked 169 Senate bills in states where neither party holds trifecta control.

The Wisconsin Senate is scheduled to be in session from Jan. 3 to Dec. 31 this year. In 2022, Ballotpedia tracked 36 Senate bills related to election administration. One of these bills passed both chambers and was enacted into law. Wisconsin is a divided government, meaning neither party holds trifecta control.

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