Chapter 7 — ELECTION OFFICIALS; BOARDS; SELECTION AND DUTIES; CANVASSING

7.03 Compensation of election officials and trainees. (1) (a) Except as authorized under this paragraph, a reasonable daily compensation shall be paid to each inspector, voting machine custodian, automatic tabulating equipment technician, member of a board of canvassers, messenge…

7.08 Elections commission. In addition to its duties for ballot arrangement under ch. 5 and date and notice requirements under ch. 10, the commission shall: (1) ELECTION FORMS, VOTING APPARATUS. (a) Prescribe all official ballot forms necessary under chs. 5 to 10 and 12 and revis…

7.10 County clerks. (1) ELECTION SUPPLIES AND BALLOTS. (a) Each county clerk shall provide ballots for every election in the county for all national, state and county offices, including metropolitan sewerage commission elections under s. 200.09 (11) (am), for municipal judges ele…

7.11 Menominee county; town elections. The clerk shall prepare a ballot distinguishing between supervisors elected at large and by ward in any county having only one town with a part of the county board members elected by wards. History: 1971 c. 304 s. 29 (2); 1973 c. 334.

7.15 Municipal clerks. (1) SUPERVISE REGISTRATION AND ELECTIONS. Each municipal clerk has charge and supervision of elections and registration in the municipality. The clerk shall perform the following duties and any others which may be necessary to properly conduct elections or …

7.20 Board of election commissioners. (1) A municipal board of election commissioners shall be established in every city over 500,000 population. A county board of election commissioners shall be established in every county over 750,000 population. (2) Each board of election comm…

7.21 Election commissioners, duties and regulations. (1) All powers and duties assigned to the municipal or county clerk or the municipal or county board of canvassers under chs. 5 to 12 shall be carried out by the municipal or county board of election commissioners or its execut…

7.22 Municipal board of election commissioners. (1) The common council shall determine the salaries of the election commissioners and shall include sufficient funds in its budget to allow the municipal board of election commissioners to fulfill its duties. (2) All expenses shall …

7.23 Destruction of election materials. (1) All materials and supplies associated with an election, except as provided in sub. (2), may be destroyed according to the following schedule: (a) Except as provided in par. (am), unused materials after an election and the contents of th…

7.24 Title to election materials. The filing of a nomination paper, ballot application, financial report, affidavit, or other form or statement with the appropriate official or agency responsible for accepting such materials under chs. 5 to 12 irrevocably transfers the legal titl…

7.25 Voting machine officials’ duties. (1) The municipal clerk of each municipality in which voting machines are used is responsible for the proper ballot being placed on each machine, the sample ballots, setting, adjusting, and putting the machine in order to use in voting when …

7.30 Appointment of election officials. (1) NUMBER. (a) Except as authorized under par. (b), there shall be 7 inspectors for each polling place at each election. Except as authorized in par. (b), in municipalities where voting machines are used, the municipal governing body may r…

7.31 Training and certification of chief inspectors. (1) The commission shall establish requirements for certification of individuals to serve as chief inspectors. The requirements shall include a requirement to attend at least one training session held under sub. (5) before begi…

7.315 Training of other election officials. (1) (a) The commission shall, by rule, prescribe the contents of the training that municipal clerks must provide to inspectors, other than chief inspectors, and to special voting deputies appointed under s. 6.875. (b) 1. Each inspector …

7.32 Change of election official numbers. Notwithstanding s. 7.30 (1) (a), the governing body or board of election commissioners of any municipality may by resolution reduce the number of election officials and modify or rescind any similar previous action. No such action may red…

7.33 Service as an election official. (1) In this section: (a) “Employee” has the meaning given under s. 101.01 (3). (b) “Employer” has the meaning given under s. 101.01 (4). (c) “State agency” has the meaning given under s. 20.001 (1) and includes an authority created under subc…

7.36 Chief inspector’s duties. Subject to the supervision of the municipal clerk or executive director of the board of election commissioners, the chief inspector shall direct the conduct of activities assigned to the inspectors at the polling place. The chief inspector shall ref…

7.37 Inspectors’ duties. (1) ADJOURN TO ANOTHER LOCATION. Whenever it becomes impossible or inconvenient to hold an election at the designated location, the inspectors, after assembling at or as near the designated polling place as practicable and before receiving any votes, may …

7.38 Vacancies after nomination. (1) Except as provided in sub. (4), after the death of a candidate nominated for a partisan office, either in a primary or when no primary is required under s. 8.50 (3) (b), the vacancy may be filled by the candidate’s political party. In the case…

7.40 Sample ballots. Any committee may, at its own expense and subject to limitations upon contributions and disbursements under ch. 11, print a supply of sample ballots, provided each sample ballot includes on its face the information required by s. 11.1303 (2) and all the names…

7.41 Public’s right to access. (1) Any member of the public may be present at any polling place, in the office of any municipal clerk whose office is located in a public building on any day that absentee ballots may be cast in that office, or at an alternate site under s. 6.855 o…

7.50 Elector intent. (1) REQUIREMENTS AND RESTRICTIONS. (a) Except as provided in s. 7.15 (6), only ballots provided by the person authorized to have them printed shall be cast and counted in any election. (b) When an elector casts more votes for any office or measure than he or …

7.51 Local board of canvassers. (1) CANVASS PROCEDURE. Immediately after the polls close the inspectors except any inspector appointed under s. 7.30 (1) (b) shall proceed to canvass publicly all votes received at the polling place. In any municipality where an electronic voting s…

7.52 Canvassing of absentee ballots. (1) (a) The governing body of any municipality may provide by ordinance that, in lieu of canvassing absentee ballots at polling places under s. 6.88, the municipal board of absentee ballot canvassers designated under s. 7.53 (2m) shall, at eac…

7.53 Municipal canvass. (1) MUNICIPALITIES WITH ONE POLLING PLACE. (a) Where the municipality constitutes one ward or combines all wards to utilize a single polling place under s. 5.15 (6) (b), the canvass of the votes cast at the polling place shall be conducted publicly under s…

7.54 Contested elections. In all contested election cases, the contesting parties have the right to have the ballots opened and to have all errors of the inspectors, either in counting or refusing to count any ballot, corrected by the board of canvassers or court deciding the con…

7.60 County canvass. (1) KEEP OFFICE OPEN. On election night the county clerk shall keep the clerk’s office open to receive reports from the ward inspectors and shall post all returns. On election night the clerk shall post all returns, by ward or reporting unit, on an Internet s…

7.70 State canvass. (1) RECORDING AND PRESERVING RETURNS. (a) Upon receipt of the certified statements from the county clerks, the commission shall record the election results by counties and file and carefully preserve the statements. (b) If any county clerk fails or neglects to…

7.75 Presidential electors meeting. (1) The electors for president and vice president shall meet at the state capitol follow- 7.80 ing the presidential election at 12:00 noon the first Monday after the 2nd Wednesday in December. If there is a vacancy in the office of an elector d…

7.80 Notice of election. Personal service or service by first class mail of a certificate of election is official notification for all legal purposes to any person of his or her election to office. History: 1977 c. 427. May 22, 2026, are designated by NOTES. (Published 5-22-26)