(The Center Square) – Rep. Jerry O’Connor, R-Fond du Lac, said he has been confused at the polling place. He has heard others confused. He has even seen yard signs that have to resort to oversimplifying a ballot initiative or referendum, simply stating “Vote no and no.”
“The reason they had to do that is that no one understood what was being asked,” O’Connor said at a Tuesday public hearing on Assembly Bill 207. “That’s not fair.”
O’Connor and other lawmakers are working to pass legislation that would change that, in some ways.
Assembly Bill 207 would require all referenda or proposed constitutional amendments in the state to include a full explanation of the amendment or referendum, date it will be on the ballot and a plain language explanation of its impact that will be available on one page for voters on Election Day.
The content of the final three questions must fit on a 3-by-5 card or 8½-by-11 sheet of paper in 12-point font that must be posted at election polling places.
The explanation will also be mailed with absentee ballots, something that Green County Clerk Arianna Voegeli told the Assembly Committee on Campaigns and Elections could add to the cost of mailing ballots.
The bill also shifts the responsibility for an impact statement related to the amendment or referendum from the state attorney general to bill.
“This is not a partisan bill,” O’Connor said. “This is a voter benefit bill.”
O’Connor said that the City of Madison, American Civil Liberties Union and League of Women Voters all back the bill.
“This is probably the first time I have had that trio backing a bill that I drafted,” he said.
Current law continues, requiring that ballot questions may not require a negative vote to be approved or a positive vote to disapprove.
The bill was introduced by a group of 20 Republican representatives and is co-sponsored by four Republican senators.
