No. A voter who casts a ballot pursuant to § 6.82 (1) Wis Stats. is not required to sign the poll list under § 6.79 (1m) Wis. Stats. Election inspectors shall mark the poll list “Ballot received at poll entrance-exempt.”
Election inspectors are not required under 2011 Wisconsin Act 23 to compare the signature to any other record. Voters should be directed to sign using their normal signature as they would sign any other official document and election inspectors should indicate the line number on which the voter is to sign. The law does not require voter signatures to be legible.
If the voter refuses to sign the poll list, a ballot shall not be issued.
However, electors who have a disability that prevents them from physically being able to sign the poll list are exempt from this provision. If another person signed the voter’s registration form because the voter was unable to sign due to disability, the election inspector writes the word “exempt” on the signature line. If the voter is already registered but the voter claims to be unable to sign due to physical disability, and both inspectors concur, the inspectors shall enter the words “exempt by order of inspectors” on the signature line. If both inspectors do not waive the signature requirement, the voter shall be allowed to cast a ballot and the inspector or inspectors who did not waive the requirement shall challenge the ballot.
University and college students may use their student photo ID in conjunction with a fee payment receipt that contains the student’s residential address dated no earlier than nine months before the election. University and college students may also use their student photo ID if the university or college has provided a certified list to the municipal clerk of students, containing the students’ residential addresses and indicating which students are U.S. citizens.
The progression is as follows:
Voter who possesses a WI driver license or WI DOT issued ID:
• If it is current and valid (not revoked, suspended or expired)
o Voter must provide the license number
o If they cannot or won’t provide the number, they can register and vote provisionally
• If driver license is revoked, suspended or expired
o Voter must provide the last 4 digits of their Social Security number (SS#)
o They may also provide the number on their license or ID (optional)
Voter who does not possess a WI driver license
• Voter must provide the last 4 digits of their SS#
o If the voter cannot provide the last 4 digits of their SS#, they may not register or vote
Voter who possesses neither a WI driver license nor a state ID nor an SS#
• Checks in the box indicating they have no WI driver license/state ID nor SS#
A high school student serving as an election inspector is appointed for a specific election, not a two year term. The student may be appointed for more than one election.
Wisconsin law requires every employer to grant an unpaid leave of absence to each employee who is appointed to serve as an election official, if the employee who serves as an election official provides his or her employer with at least seven days' notice. The leave is for the entire 24-hour period of each election day in which the employee serves in his or her official capacity as an election official. Upon request of any employer municipal clerks must verify appointments.
To be an election inspector (poll worker), a person must:
- Be a qualified elector of the county in which the polling place is established (i.e., an adult citizen of the United States who has resided in the election district for 28 consecutive days and is not otherwise disqualified to vote);
- Be able to speak, read, and write fluently in the English language;
- Have strong clerical skills;
- Be able to solve problems;
- Be an effective communicator; and
- NOT be a candidate for any office to be voted on at the polling place at that election.