The Joint Finance Committee approved a five-year election administration plan Tuesday, requiring the Government Accountability Board to study early voting policies and other voting-related issues.
The plan would change the date of primary elections and extend Wisconsin's eligibility for funds from the Help America Vote Act to almost $4 million. According to the plan, Wisconsin became eligible for HAVA funding in 2008.
A controversial provision that would study requiring voters to present photo identification prior to voting was left out of the plan. State Sen. Alberta Darling, R-River Hills, motioned to include the study of requiring photo ID, but the motion failed along party lines.
In light of the goal of the plan to ""ensure integrity of individual ballots,"" republicans argued for the study to ensure honest voting. According to the plan, the GAB will work to train local officials to detect ineligible voters, regularly audit registry records and keep new voter registers updated.
The plan also aims to implement ""true early voting"" in Wisconsin, which would reduce voter waiting lines and election costs. Additionally, the plan seeks to streamline the absentee ballot process.
