The state Senate approved a package of four Republican elections bills Tuesday, drawing negative responses from Democratic members of the state legislature.
The bills, authored by state Sen. Mary Lazich, R-New Berlin, pertain mainly to poll workers and are designed to limit the partisan impact poll workers could have during elections. One bill would change current law, which now allows ballot inspectors to securely file ballots to avoid tampering, to only allow the chief inspector and one other inspector who has a different party affiliation than the chief inspector to handle the ballots, according to a Legislative Reference Bureau summary.
A different bill would change current law that does not specify the number of inspectors of each party affiliation that can work the polling place, to a law that would require the chief ballot inspector to assign an equal number of representatives from each party to work.
While Republican supporters have said the bills are positive because they would take partisanship out of the polling places, Democratic critics, such as state Senate Minority Leader Chris Larson, D-Milwaukee, say the bills will add unnecessary requirements that will force citizens to wait longer at polling places.
The bills will now move to the state Assembly.
