2023 Wisconsin Act 124 was enacted on March 21, 2024, for the purposes of renumbering and amending Wis. Stat. § 5.25(3). Primarily, this provision of statute was meant to detail the extent to which emergency designations and closures of polling places could occur.
Many clerks were already aware that the Wisconsin Elections Commission (“Commission”) has long recommended that municipalities have an emergency action plan in place and approved by the local governing body, which would at least include pre-approved emergency backup polling place location(s). The Commission was working to promulgate an administrative rule, Wis. Admin. Code Chapter EL 15, that would have formalized these processes. However, the new Wis. Stat. § 5.25(3) would have superseded portions of proposed Chapter EL 15, and the Commission ordered that the rule no longer be pursued at its June 27, 2024, meeting, while also directing that this guidance be issued on the interpretation of Wis. Stat. § 5.25(3).
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