Voter ID

Frequently Asked Questions

This Frequently Asked Questions is being added to all the time. Please check back again for new entries.

Questions	Answers
Photo ID Law Update #1: Changes to the Election Process Effective Immediately	Major Impacts of the New Voter Photo ID Bill Changes to the Election Process Effective Immediately Information for Municipal Clerks See attached memo above.
Photo ID Law Update #2 Changes to Election Process Effective Immediately	The first update on the new Voter Photo ID law was posted to our website on June 10, 2011, titled “Photo ID Law Update #1: Changes to the Election Process Effective Immediately.” We will continue to number all future updates sequentially for your convenience. All Updates will continue to be posted on our website so we encourage you to review our website regularly. In response to the recent passage of 2011 Wisconsin Act 23, the Photo ID Law, G.A.B. staff are focusing only on those provisions in the new law that must be applied to the 2011 July and August summer recall and special elections. We will concentrate on implementing the provisions that become effective in 2012, after this summer’s election process is concluded. On two occasions staff met with the Wisconsin Election Administration Council (WI-EAC) and with municipal and county clerks to solicit feedback and recommendations on election forms and policy documents for complying with the new law. Please note that the revisions in the attached documents address only the requirements for elections held prior to the Spring February 2012 Primary Election. Additional changes may be made in order to fully comply with the Photo ID law beginning with the February 2012 Primary. The following forms and policy document are attached to this update or are linked to: Major Impacts of Photo ID for 2011 (Attached) Voter Photo ID Law Document (Suggested to be given to all voters on Election Day) (Attached) Revised 6-24-11 Polling Place Voting Step-By-Step for All Elections Prior to 2012 February Primary (Attached) Sample Poll List with Signature Page (Attached) Inspectors’ Statement (GAB-104), Inspectors’ Statement for Multiple Voting Systems (GAB-104m) (Links) Challenge Documentation (GAB-104c) (Link) Supplemental Poll List (GAB-107) (Link) Inspectors’ Certificate of Provisional Ballots (GAB-108) (Link) Voter Qualification Poster (GAB-115) (Link) Application for Absentee Ballot (GAB-121) (Link) Standard Absentee Certificate Envelope (GAB-122), Not Away Absentee Certificate Envelope (GAB-122m), Away Absentee Certificate Envelope (GAB-122m) (Links) Provisional Certificate Envelope (GAB-123) (Link) Voter Registration Application (GAB-131) (Link) Effective immediately and going forward, these revised forms and documents need to be used by municipal clerks from this date. Many of you probably have a stockpile of forms such as the Absentee Certificate Envelope. You may use up your old stock by simply crossing out the old 10-day resident requirement and add “later than 28 days.” Or, you may place a sticker containing the new language over the old language. In addition, effective immediately, the revised Absentee Application should be used by absentee electors going forward. If an absentee elector makes a request using the old form, the absentee request must be honored and will not affect the absentee ballot status. The revised Voter Registration Application (GAB-131) must be used immediately by all voters going forward. Any former versions of the GAB-131 may not used. We realize a lot of new information is being shared with you within a short period of time. We appreciate your patience, and we appreciate your dedication to the electoral process during this abnormally busy time period. If you have questions regarding this Update, the attached documents, the Photo ID law or our planned implementation process, please contact our Help Desk at gabhelpdesk@wi.gov or (608) 261-2028. Thank you. cc: Kevin J. Kennedy Director and General Counsel Wisconsin Government Accountability Board Ross D. Hein Elections Supervisor Wisconsin Government Accountability Board
Photo ID Law Update #3 -- Changes to Election Process, Effective Immediately	On June 21, 2011 G.A.B. staff issued Photo ID Law Update #2: Changes to Election Process, Effective Immediately which provided revised forms and documents in response to the recent passage of 2011 Wisconsin Act 23. At this time, we are only focusing on those provisions of the law that must be applied to the 2011 July and August summer recall and special elections. We will concentrate on implementing the provisions that become effective in 2012 after the summer’s election process is concluded. Attached to this update you will find the following documents: Supplemental Calendar for Special / Recall Primary and Election to be held on July 12, 2011 and August 9, 2011. Supplemental Calendar for Recall Primary and Election to be held on July 19, 2011 and August 16, 2011. Provisional Ballot Instructions for Voter. If you have questions regarding this update, the attached documents, the Photo ID law or our planned implementation process, please contact our Help Desk at gabhelpdesk@wi.gov or (608) 261-2028. Thank you. cc: Kevin J. Kennedy Director and General Counsel WI Government Accountability Board Ross D. Hein Elections Supervisor WI Government Accountability Board
Voter Photo ID Informational Teleconference Calls Scheduled	By now, we trust you have had a chance to review the Voter ID implementation information we posted to our website last week. Within the next several weeks, G.A.B. staff will be conducting a series of WisLine teleconference calls to answer questions county and municipal clerks may have regarding Wisconsin’s Voter Photo ID Law and our newly posted information. Clerks without email were mailed these documents last week. At this time, we are only focusing on those provisions of the law that must be applied to the 2011 July and August summer recall and special elections. We will concentrate on implementing the provisions that become fully effective in 2012, after the summer’s election process is concluded. Each WisLine teleconference is limited to 100 phone lines. If you are unable to access the teleconference on one particular date, please try another date. We will schedule additional dates and times if needed. The schedule is as follows: Thursday, June 30, 2011: 1:00 pm – 3:00 pm; Wednesday, July 6, 2011: 10:00 am – 12:00 pm; Wednesday, July 6, 2011: 1:00 pm – 3:00 pm; Thursday, July 7, 2011: 10:00 am – 12:00 pm; and, Thursday, July 7, 2011: 1:00 pm – 3:00 pm. Call-in information: Call in to the conference up to 10 minutes prior to the start time using the numbers below: Toll-free Number: (800) 462-1257 Local Number: (608) 237-5850 Passcode: 8055657 If you have questions about the scheduled WisLine teleconferences, the Photo ID law or our planned implementation process, please contact our Help Desk at gabhelpdesk@wi.gov or (608) 261-2028. Thank you.
Wisline Voter ID Teleconference Audio is now available	G.A.B. staff conducted WisLine teleconference calls recently to answer any questions county and municipal clerks may have regarding Wisconsin’s Photo ID Law and our newly posted information. Clerks are eligible to receive recertification training hours for listening to one of the teleconferences attached below. If you have chief inspectors able to listen online to the recoreded teleconference, they may also receive recertification training hours. Please click on the red "Play" button below to listen in this browser window, or right-click the "Download" link to save the file to your computer for listening later.
Photo ID Law Update #4 -- Changes to Election Process, Effective Immediately	This high priority communication about Wisconsin’s Voter Photo ID Law is directed primarily to county and municipal clerks with summer recall or special elections. This communication however, contains important information for all clerks to review and become familiar with. Please note that this information has been conveyed in previous Updates, and more detail (see our website, “Recent Clerk Communications.”) We are including a summary in this correspondence for your convenience. Special Note to County Clerks: County clerks, we would especially appreciate your additional contact with the municipal clerks in your county asking them to visit the G.A.B. website often or, for clerks without email, review the documents we mailed to them approximately two weeks ago. The Voter Photo ID Handout that is required to be given to voters who do not have a legislatively-approved ID and other important documents can be found on our website, primarily in Voter ID Law Updates 2 & 3. Please visit the site frequently: http://gab.wi.gov/clerks/recent-communications To ensure all voters that vote in any election prior to the 2012 February Primary are provided uniform and consistent information, please pay special attention to the following critical aspects of the Voter Photo ID Law: Voters must be asked to show an acceptable photo ID to vote, but voters without an acceptable photo ID will still be allowed to vote. Absentee voters in the clerk’s office must be asked to show an acceptable photo ID to vote, but voters without an acceptable photo ID will still be allowed to vote absentee. Absentee voters by mail do not have to provide an acceptable photo ID to vote and do not have to be given a copy of the Voter Photo ID Handout. Voters unable to provide acceptable photo ID for any election prior to the 2012 February Primary must be given a copy of the Voter Photo ID Handout. We recommend that all voters be given a copy of the handout, but there is no requirement in the law that you must do so. Voters must sign the poll list before being issued a ballot, unless they identify a disability that prevents them from doing so. If the voter refuses to sign the poll list, the voter will not issue a ballot and therefore, will not be able to vote. New Helpful Guidance for Election Inspectors: The G.A.B. has posted a one-page informational document (attached) on our website under “Recent Clerk Communications.” This guidance is intended for election inspectors, for election inspectors to convey the new statutory requirement that all voters must sign the poll list (except voters with physical disability and cannot sign). Municipal clerks are encouraged to have this document available for their election inspectors on Election Day, to respond to voters who have questions regarding the new signature requirements. The G.A.B. has revised the GAB-116 Instructions for Wisconsin Mail-In Registrants and First-Time Voters and is now available on the G.A.B. website. Also, of special note: Board staff has posted guidance for clerks regarding the request from the Citizens for Election Protection regarding hand counting of ballots. Audio files of the Voter Photo ID Law teleconferences conducted by Board staff during the last several weeks are available for download on the G.A.B. website for clerk and election inspector recertification education and training purposes. Clerks should instruct election inspectors to ensure ballot bags and containers are properly sealed following the Election Night reconciliation/tabulation. Municipal clerks should also verify the ballot bags and containers have been sufficiently secured. Thank you for your attention to this important information. If you have questions, please contact the G.A.B. Help Desk: (608) 261-2028 or gabhelpdesk@wi.gov. Thank you. cc: Kevin J. Kennedy Director and General Counsel Government Accountability Board Ross D. Hein Elections Supervisor Government Accountability Board
Guidance Regarding Poll Book Printing for the Summer Elections and Future Elections	The requirement that voters sign the poll book is now the law, effective with all elections, starting with the 2011 Recall and Special Elections! If a voter is not physically disabled and still refuses to sign, that voter will not be eligible to receive a ballot for voting. Please refer to our website under “Recent Clerk Communications” for Photo ID documents that provide additional details. Based on advice of county and municipal clerks who made recommendations to us on how to best meet this “sign-the-poll-book” provision of the new Photo ID law, we moved the certification page to be the first page of the poll book. Since the updates to poll books with the new upside down signature line for the voters, the file size of the poll box has gotten larger. Municipalities that use SVRS may no longer be able to print directly to the printer or use the “V:\” or “U:\” shortcuts when exporting poll books. These municipalities will need to export their poll books to the “My Documents” folder on the Citrix login page, then copy the file to their PC for printing. If needed, you can find detailed instructions on pages 7-13 of the SVRS Instructional Manual, available at the following link: http://gab.wi.gov/clerks/education-training/svrs-manual, and click on “Poll Books Chapter June 28, 2010.” Also if you need assistance, as always, you may call our Help Desk at (608) 261-2028, or email the Help Desk at GABHelpDesk@wi.gov. Thank you! cc: Kevin J. Kennedy Director and General Counsel Government Accountability Board Ross Hein Elections Supervisor Government Accountability Board
Photo ID Law Update #5 -- What We Learned from the Primaries	Overall, the recall and special primary elections held this past Tuesday, July 12 went relatively smooth. There are lessons to be learned regarding the “soft implementation” of the photo ID law that clerks and election inspectors need to pay special attention to so similar situations do not occur for future elections. Please make sure the following items are a point of focus for any election held prior to the 2012 February Primary: An acceptable photo ID is not required to contain a current residential address and is not required to match the address on the voter list. State law requires election inspectors to verify that the photo ID reasonably resembles the voter and the name conforms to the name on the voter list (name variations are allowed). Inspectors are not required to write down the type of photo ID presented. Proof of residency is different than proof of identification (photo ID). Proof of residency is required for voter registration (in most situations) and must be current and valid. Beginning in February 2012, Photo ID is required upon voting before a ballot is issued to voters. For additional information regarding what constitutes an acceptable photo ID, please see the “Wisconsin New Voter Photo ID Law” handout. The purpose of the proof of residency document is to establish the voter’s current address, not to prove that the voter complies with the 28 consecutive day residency requirement. The voter’s sworn statement on the registration form that they meet the 28-day requirement shall be presumed to be true unless the inspector or a challenger has first-hand knowledge sufficient to question the certification. Voters who do not have a photo ID must be offered the “Wisconsin New Voter Photo ID Law” handout, but they are not required to take the handout to receive a ballot. During the soft implementation phase, inspectors also should not engage in a back-and-forth discussion with voters who refuse to present an ID. The “Wisconsin New Voter Photo ID Law” handout should also be posted near the entrance to the polling place. Staff has received reports that some voters without photo ID heard others in line saying a photo ID was required, and left before getting the handout and learning they were able to vote without a photo ID. Prior to 2012 elections, do not post signs in or outside the polling place with language such as “Photo ID Required” or “Please have ID ready” as they may discourage voters without ID from entering or remaining at the polling place. While voters are not required to show a photo ID to obtain a ballot in 2011 elections, inspectors must ask every voter for an ID. Inspectors may not be selective by asking only certain voters for an ID while issuing a ballot to other voters without making the request. Even if you know the voter, you must still ask them for ID. Voters are required to sign only one of the duplicate poll lists at the polling place. Election inspectors are not required under the photo ID law to compare the signature to any other record. The law does not require voter signatures to be legible. 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. There are only two specific situations for which a provisional ballot may be issued. Please see the Election Day Manual for additional information on the provisional process. For voters that are registering to vote on Election Day, proof of residency is required. If a voter attempting to register to vote does not have proof of residency, a provisional ballot cannot be issued and unless they are able to provide acceptable proof of residency, the voter cannot register and must not be issued a ballot. Municipal clerks must make themselves available at least until 5 p.m. on the Friday before the election for both in-person absentee voting and registration. The photo ID law provides a more condensed window for in-person absentee voting. Voters have the opportunity to vote an absentee ballot in the municipal clerk’s office at least until 5 p.m. on the Friday before the election. If the municipal clerk does not have established office hours on Friday, contact information such as the phone number or email address of the municipal clerk must be provided so voters can make contact with the municipal clerk immediately. On the photo ID section of our website, we have been taking many of the questions that we have received from our clerk partners and have made them available in a question and answer format. To access the photo ID section of our website, please see the following link: http://gab.wi.gov/elections-voting/photo-id It has come to our attention that the GAB-117 General Information on Voting Rights contained references to corroborating witnesses. As the photo ID law now prohibits using corroborating witnesses in lieu of proof of residence, we have removed such references and the updated form is now available on our website under “Forms.” Thank you for your attention to this important information. If you have questions, please contact the G.A.B. Help Desk: (608) 261-2028 or gabhelpdesk@wi.gov. Thank you. cc: Kevin J. Kennedy Director and General Counsel Government Accountability Board Ross D. Hein Elections Supervisor Government Accountability Board
Photo ID Law Update #6	As we approach the August 9 and August 16 recall elections, local election officials should review the communication of July 14, 2011, “What We Learned from the Primaries,” which is available on the Board’s website: http://gab.wi.gov/node/1956, so as to avoid some of the mistakes made regarding the “soft implementation” of the Voter Photo ID Law. Since that communication, other issues have come to the Board’s attention that clerks should be aware of: If municipalities have combined polling places for the recall elections, clerks should get the word out to ensure that adequate public notice has been given to the voters. The Board has received reports of voters who traveled, sometimes on foot, to their normal polling place only to find it closed. Voters should not learn that their regular polling place has been moved when they arrive there on Election Day. There continues to be confusion among the public regarding unofficial absentee ballot applications being sent by third parties. Some of these applications contain incorrect addresses for municipal clerks, and others contain errors in election dates. The Board has already issued one news release regarding this problem (http://gab.wi.gov/node/1994) and staff has done numerous interviews with news media urging voters to contact municipal clerks directly for absentee ballots and information about elections. We know that this problem may place additional burdens on clerks who forward ballot applications to the proper location, and appreciate your efforts to serve voters from other municipalities whose applications you may receive. Thank you for your attention to this important information. If you have questions, please contact the G.A.B. Help Desk: (608) 261-2028 or gabhelpdesk@wi.gov. Thank you. cc: Kevin J. Kennedy Director and General Counsel Government Accountability Board Ross D. Hein Elections Supervisor Government Accountability Board
Voter Photo ID Law Clerk Advisory Committee Survey	With the final summer recall a thing of the past, we have turned our full attention to determining methods, approaches and strategies for implementing the Voter Photo ID Law. In the communication posted on our website on May 26, 2011 titled, “State’s New Voter Photo ID Bill,” we said, “we will work closely with municipal and county clerks to make sure we (G.A.B., clerks and the voting public) are prepared to meet these new challenges and opportunities.” Also posted on the website is our comprehensive Voter Photo ID Law Implementation Strategy that details our staff work plan and team approach. Each work plan team welcomes clerk input at various points of the development process. In the past, similar committees have played a critical role in the development and implementation of policies to improve election administration. If you are interested in serving on a G.A.B. Voter Photo ID Law Clerk Advisory Committee, please click on the link below and fill out a short survey. Committee meetings will typically be conducted via teleconference; however, some may be convened in-person in our office in Madison. We ask that interested clerks complete this survey by Friday, September 2, 2011. Should you need assistance, please contact Allison Coakley at (608) 261-2033 or allison.coakley@wi.gov. Be assured that we will continue to seek your advice – and the advice of your clerk colleagues – on all other aspects of the Voter Photo ID Law. Your ideas and recommendations are encouraged and appreciated. As always, thank you in advance for your cooperation and assistance. CLICK HERE TO TAKE THE VOTER ID LAW COMMITTEE SURVEY! cc: Kevin J. Kennedy Director and General Counsel Government Accountability Board
Impact of Voter ID Legislation With Respect to Absentee Voters	Voter Photo ID Law Status: No ID Currently Required for Voting Two separate judges, on March 6 and March 12, 2012, have issued injunctions preventing the Government Accountability Board from enforcing photo ID requirements in 2011 Act 23. The Wisconsin Department of Justice has appealed those injunctions, and the appeals have been certified to the Wisconsin Supreme Court, which on April 16 sent them back to the respective Courts of Appeals. The document below may contain information which is no longer accurate. Please contact the G.A.B. Help Desk if you have questions. 2011 Act 23 (the “Voter Photo ID Bill”) requires all voters, beginning with the 2012 February Primary, to prove their identity before casting a ballot. Although some form of proof of ID is required of most voters, certain types of absentee voters are either exempt from the Voter ID requirement or may utilize a substitute method in order to satisfy the requirement. In-person voters, whether at the polling place on Election Day or by absentee ballot in the clerk’s office, must provide acceptable voter ID each time they vote at the polling place or in person in the clerk’s office. A list of acceptable voter ID can be found on the Government Accountability Board’s website at this link: http://gab.wi.gov/publications/quick-reference/acceptable-photo-id. REMEMBER!! Revised forms are not to be used for any election occurring before January 1, 2012. OVERVIEW OF ABSENTEE VOTING RULES The Overview of Absentee Voting Rules document (http://gab.wi.gov/publications/manuals/absentee-voting-overview) breaks down the various types of absentee voters and sets out the respective absentee voting and voter ID requirements for each type. Please pay close attention to all instructions for each type of absentee voter. REVISED ABSENTEE VOTING DOCUMENTS Links to revised absentee voting forms are listed below, along with a brief summary of the changes to each. GAB-122 Certificate Envelope: (http://gab.wi.gov/forms/gab-122-2012) Please Note: The certificate side of the envelope is the same whether the voter is a “regular,” overseas, military away, military not away, or in-person absentee voter. The address side of the envelope will depend on the type of voter to whom the certificate envelope is sent. o Certificate envelopes sent to military voters away from their residence due to active duty contain the address side labeled GAB-122M away. o Certificate envelopes sent to military voters who are not away from their residence due to active duty contain the address side labeled GAB-122M not away. o Certificate envelopes sent to any other voter contain the address side labeled GAB-122 standard. There are two orientations of the certificate side of the envelope —“landscape” and “portrait.” You may choose the orientation you prefer. Clerks have commented that envelopes that open on the short end are often less costly than envelopes that open on the long side. The portrait orientation also removes the problem of postal equipment “seeing” the witness address resulting in misdirection of the ballot. A place for the municipal clerk to initial that the voter has met the ID requirements has been added The line “I further certify that the name and address of the voter is correct as shown” has been added to the Certification of Witness. A Certification of Care Facility Authorized Representative section has been added. (A voter who resides in an SVD-eligible facility that is not served by SVDs and who is not indefinitely confined may complete this section in lieu of conventional voter ID.) A section has been added for the municipal clerk to indicate to the poll workers if proof of ID must be enclosed in the certificate envelope in order for the ballot to be processed normally. If either box is checked in this section, and proof of ID is not enclosed, the ballot is treated as provisional. GAB-121 Application for Absentee Ballot: (http://gab.wi.gov/forms/gab-121-2012) Photo ID information has been added to this form in the “Instructions” sections on both sides of the form. “Clerk’s Office” was added as a selection in section 5. Uniform Instructions for Absentee Voters Uniform Instructions are required to be sent to each absentee voter with their absentee ballot. Instructions incorporate the ID requirements and fax/email instruction. There are three separate uniform instruction documents: “Regular” and Overseas voters: http://gab.wi.gov/publications/brochures/uniform-instructions/regular-ov... Military Voters: http://gab.wi.gov/publications/brochures/uniform-instructions/military-a... First-Time Voters Who Registered By Mail: http://gab.wi.gov/publications/brochures/uniform-instructions/first-time... Form Letters for Indefinitely-Confined Absentee Voters and “Regular” Absentee Voters: http://gab.wi.gov/publications/other/form-letters-absentee You may use these letters to apprise your absentee voters of the ID requirement as it pertains to individual situations. Voters who have applied for absentee ballots as indefinitely-confined electors receive the “Indefinitely-Confined Letter.” All other voters (except those who are exempt from the requirement --military, overseas or confidential voters) receive the “General Absentee Voter Letter.” A list of acceptable photo ID is appended to each letter as a second page so that the list may be copied to the back of each letter. If you have questions or comments, please contact the Help Desk at (608) 261-2028 or gabhelpdesk@wi.gov. Thank you. cc: Kevin J. Kennedy/Director and General Counsel/Government Accountability Board
New Public Information Brochures on Obtaining a Free State ID	To assist municipal clerks in educating the public about the new Voter Photo ID Law and its major impacts, G.A.B. staff is creating public information election brochures to ensure uniform and consistent information is conveyed to all Wisconsin voters. The election brochures will clarify some of the major requirements and areas of the new Voter Photo ID Law, as well as address some of the frequently ask questions the public may have. Clerks can customize each brochure to include their municipal logo and contact information. Also, all brochures are printable in Word format from the G.A.B. website at http://gab.wi.gov/publications/brochures. They should be printed double-sided and tri-folded for distribution. A new election brochure is now available for clerks to print and distribute to their electors: How to Obtain a Free Wisconsin State ID for Voting Purposes In the upcoming weeks, additional election brochures will be posted and made available for print. They will focus on voter registration, proof of residency, and absentee voting for the indefinitely confined and those in care facilities. As with any G.A.B. document produced, should there be additional changes required, for example by Legislative directive, revised versions will be provided as soon as possible. Please take this into consideration when determining how many brochures to print. If you would like G.A.B. staff to clarify any other requirements of the new Photo ID law in an election brochure, please contact Ross Hein, G.A.B. Election Supervisor, at (608) 267-366 or Ross.Hein@wisconsin.gov to discuss the matter. Thank you. CC: Kevin J. Kennedy Director and General Counsel Ross D. Hein Elections Supervisor
Updated Key Changes to SVRS for Photo ID	On January 27, 2012, G.A.B. staff announced to all SVRS users that new updates had been installed in SVRS to support Wisconsin Act 23, the Voter Photo ID Law. A “Key Changes” document was released outlining the updates that were made to SVRS to assist clerks in compliance with this new law. Based on feedback from municipal and county clerks, and continued testing of the new SVRS functions, the “Key Changes” document has been updated and clarified, to more accurately reflect the way SVRS is currently functioning. G.A.B. staff will continue to tweak the SVRS functionality based on feedback from clerks and as a result of testing. We will continue to update the “Key Changes” documentation as updates are made so that clerks will have up-to-date and accurate documentation on the features of SVRS that support the new Photo ID Law. Watch for more updates on the following: Tracking Provisional Ballots in SVRS (required for the February 2012 Primary) Updates to Reports and Mailings We thank you again for your patience and cooperation as we continue to improve SVRS and provide you with the tools you need to implement the Photo ID Law. Please contact the G.A.B. Help Desk at gabhelpdesk@wi.gov, or (608) 261-2028 if you have questions. cc: Kevin J. Kennedy Director and General Counsel Government Accountability Board Ross D. Hein Elections Supervisor Government Accountability Board
New Training Resources Available	In response to earlier feedback from clerks and other election officials, and in an effort to better serve our election partners, the Government Accountability Board is committed to the use of new training delivery methods and formats to provide more training opportunities on Voter Photo ID and other election administration topics on-demand and closer to home. The primary aspects of the G.A.B.’s training plan are: The use of certified clerk-trainers to deliver Baseline Chief Inspector and Municipal Clerk Core training locally. We currently have over 40 county and municipal clerks certified to conduct Baseline Chief Inspector training and 20 certified to conduct Municipal Clerk Core training classes. The schedule is posted on the agency website and clerks should check for new classes often. The use of technology to deliver training remotely using online live Webinars, WisLine Programs and other teleconferences and posting recordings of the presentations on the G.A.B. website for clerks to use for new and refresher training. The development of new training resources that clerks can use for self-education and the training of their election officials to provide up-to-date presentations, documents and other materials that are consistent in every county and municipality across Wisconsin. Board staff has developed two PowerPoint presentations with narratives voiced by Board staff. The first presentation is “Major Impacts of the New Voter Photo ID Bill.” The presentation is 23 minutes in length and we suggest stopping the presentation periodically to go over the documentation under discussion in more detail. The second presentation is “Overview of Absentee Voting Rules," and consists of three parts, each of which lasts about 20 minutes. If you do not have PowerPoint 2010 on your computer, please download and install the PowerPoint Viewer available through the link provided on the appropriate pages on the website. We hope you find the presentations helpful and informative. They represent what we intend to be a steady supply of new training materials and updated information, delivered in new and exciting ways to our clerk-partners and local election officials. If you have any questions about these materials, please contact Training Officer Allison Coakley: allison.coakley@wi.gov or (608) 261-2033. cc: Kevin J. Kennedy Director and General Counsel Government Accountability Board
Injunction Regarding Wisconsin Act 23 - Voter Photo Identification Legislation Impact	On Tuesday afternoon, March 6, 2012, Dane County Circuit Court Judge David Flanagan ordered the Government Accountability Board to “cease immediately any effort to enforce or implement the photo identification requirements of 2011 Wisconsin Act 23, pending trial of this case and further order of the court.” Until further notice, we are taking all necessary and required steps to suspend enforcement and implementation of the Voter Photo ID provisions of Wisconsin Act 23. The purpose of this communication is to share our initial interpretation with Local Election Officials and election administration partners, and the general public, our customers, of the ruling and its impact. Only some of Wisconsin Act 23 provisions are enjoined by the Court’s Order; not all. The memorandum attached above contains detailed information about which provisions of Wisconsin Act 23 are affected by the Judge’s ruling and which are not. The first version of this memo contained an error regarding the applicability of student photo identification cards for proof of residence. A corrected Version 2 was posted on March 9, 2012. Please discard the original and use Version 2. Only the provisions in Bold/Italics are the ones that are enjoined by the Court’s Order. Additional information will be forthcoming from the Government Accountability Board’s staff. As needed, please contact the Help Desk at gabhelpdesk@wi.gov, or (608) 261-2028. Thank you.
Photo ID Injunction Q & A	Clerks have sought clarification on the impact of the photo ID injunction ordered on March 6, 2012. A Question and Answers document is attached above and also posted under Clerks/Guidance/Photo ID. Please also refer to the memo dated March 7, 2012 and posted to the Clerk Communication Page today: http://gab.wi.gov/node/2245 Revised Uniform Instructions for Regular and Overseas Voters and Revised Uniform Instructions for First-Time Voters can be located here: http://gab.wi.gov/publications/brochures (Military instructions did not require revision; use Rev. 2011-11. A Revised Type A Notice of Nonpartisan Election and Presidential Preference Vote can be located here: http://gab.wi.gov/publications/notices/type-b-spring-presidential A Revised Application for Absentee Ballot may be found here: http://gab.wi.gov/forms/gab-121-english If you have questions, please contact the Help Desk at 608-261-2028 or gab@wi.gov.

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