Committee Will Meet on 4-Year Purge and Retroactive HAVA Checks
Thanks to your cooperation and efficiency, the November 4 canvass will be completed this week, earlier than anticipated. The next important business practice is to conduct the four-year purge of inactive voter records. On Monday, November 24, Elections Division staff will meet with county and municipal clerks on the SVRS Standards Committee to develop a protocol for the four-year purge that is required to conducted following the General Election of November 4, 2008. It is important to have uniform standards and consistency across the state for the four-year purge process to treat all voters fairly. Clerks who are preparing for the purge will have their questions answered shortly.
Also on the agenda is the development of a protocol that will ensure uniform standards and consistency for retroactively cross-checking voters in SVRS with DOT and SSA records. That protocol will also include a timeline for achieving the task. Once these two protocols have been developed, they will be shared with county and municipal clerks throughout Wisconsin for comments before finalization and submission to the G.A.B. G.A.B. staff anticipates providing the Board with recommendations at its December 17, 2008 meeting.
Deadline is December 4 for Election Administration “Clean Up”
Wisconsin law gives local election officials 30 days from Election Day to enter new voter registration information from Election Day registration forms into the Statewide Voter Registration System (SVRS), and to scan poll lists in order to update the voter history of voters who participated in the election. Clerks have until December 4 to finish those tasks this year.
In addition, the GAB-190 – the Election, Voting and Registration Statistics Summary Report – also should be completed by municipal clerks, and two copies sent to their county clerks. County clerks will then forward one copy to the Elections Division. The GAB-190 was updated in October, and detailed Guidance is now available for those who requested clarification about completing the report. The instructions are posted on the G.A.B. Elections Division website under “What’s New.”
Recounts Take Place in the 47th Assembly and 18th Senate Districts
Two recounts were ordered in statewide elections held on November 4, one in the 47th Assembly District (Columbia, Dane and Sauk counties; O’Neil vs. Ripp) and one in the 18th Senate District (Dodge, Fond du Lac and Winnebago counties; Hopper vs. King). As of Thursday evening, November 20, recounts had been completed only in Sauk County for the 47th Assembly District and in Dodge County for the 18th Senate District. Dodge County reported that each candidate gained one vote in the Senate race. In the Assembly race, Sauk County reported that the candidate who requested the recount had lost one vote and her opponent’s tally stayed the same.