2023 Wisconsin Statutes & Annotations › Chapter 7 - Election officials; boards; selection and duties; canvassing. › 7.10 - County clerks.

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 elected under s. 755.01 (4) and for state and county referenda. The official and sample ballots shall be prepared in substantially the same form as those prescribed by the commission under s. 7.08 (1) (a).
(b)
The county clerk shall supply sufficient election supplies for national, state and county elections to municipalities within the county. The election supplies shall be enclosed in the sealed package containing the official ballots and delivered to the municipal clerk.
(c)
With county board approval any county clerk may purchase or print the official forms of nomination papers for distribution to any person at cost or free.
(d)
The county clerk may receive and store any unused ballots after an election upon request of any municipal clerk of a municipality within the county, and may destroy such ballots pursuant to s. 7.23 (1) (am).
(2)
Preparing ballots. The county clerk shall prepare copy for the official ballots immediately upon receipt of the certified list of candidates' names from the commission. Names certified by the commission shall be arranged in the order certified. The county clerk shall place the names of all candidates filed in the clerk's office or certified to the clerk by the commission on the proper ballot or ballots under the appropriate office and party titles. The county clerk shall prepare a special ballot under s. 5.60 (8) showing only the candidates in the presidential preference primary.
(3)
Time schedule.
(a)
The county clerk shall distribute the ballots to the municipal clerks no later than 48 days before each partisan primary and general election and no later than 22 days before each other primary and election, except that the clerk shall distribute the ballots under sub. (2) for the presidential preference primary no later 48 days before the presidential preference primary. Election forms prepared by the commission shall be distributed at the same time. If the commission transmits an amended certification under s. 7.08 (2) (a) or if the commission or a court orders a ballot error to be corrected under s. 5.06 (6) or 5.72 (3) after ballots have been distributed, the county clerk shall distribute corrected ballots to the municipal clerks as soon as possible.
(b)
The county clerk shall distribute an adequate supply of separately wrapped official ballots to each municipal clerk so the municipal clerk may supply ballots to absent elector applicants. The remaining ballots shall be sent in separately sealed packages clearly designating the ward for which each is intended and the approximate number of ballots of each kind enclosed.
(4)
Resolving notice doubts. When in doubt as to compliance with the statutory requirements for election notices or the correct fees to be paid for them, the county clerk may consult the commission.
(6)
Municipal judge; certified list. If candidates for the office of a municipal judge who is elected under s. 755.01 (4) file nomination papers in the office of the county clerk and any municipality served by the judge prepares its own ballots for voting machines or an electronic voting system, the county clerk shall certify to the municipal clerk of that municipality the names of the candidates for judge as soon as possible after the last day for filing nomination papers and after certification by the county board of canvassers of the results of any primary election.
(7)
Voter education. Each county clerk shall assist the commission in conducting educational programs under s. 5.05 (12) to inform electors about the voting process.
(8)
Free election information exchange. Each county clerk shall assist the commission and municipal clerks in maintaining toll-free telephone lines and other free access systems under s. 5.05 (13) for exchange of voting information.
(9)
Training of election officials. Each county clerk shall assist the commission in the training of election officials under s. 5.05 (7).
(10)
Information to commission. Each county clerk shall provide to the commission any information requested under s. 5.05 (14).
History:  1971 c. 304 s. 29 (2); 1973 c. 280; 1973 c. 334 s. 57; 1977 c. 394 s. 53; 1977 c. 427; 1979 c. 221, 260, 311, 355; 1981 c. 377; 1983 a. 484; 1985 a. 89, 304; 1991 a. 316; 1999 a. 150 s. 672; 1999 a. 182; 2001 a. 107; 2003 a. 265; 2005 a. 451; 2011 a. 45, 75, 165; 2015 a. 118 s. 266 (10).
In this case, the petitioners waited two weeks after the Wisconsin Elections Commission's failure to certify at least 2,000 valid signatures at its August 20, 2020, meeting before asking the court for relief. The petitioners delayed in seeking relief in a situation with very short deadlines, and under the circumstances, including the fact that the 2020 fall general election had essentially begun, it was too late to grant petitioners any form of relief that would be feasible and that would not cause confusion and undue damage to both the Wisconsin electors who wanted to vote and the other candidates in all of the various races on the general election ballot. Hawkins v. Wisconsin Elections Commission, 2020 WI 75, 393 Wis. 2d 629, 948 N.W.2d 877, 20-1488.
County clerks are not to interpret Wisconsin's election laws and make declarations based on those interpretations. It is the Wisconsin Elections Commission that is responsible for guidance in the administration and enforcement of Wisconsin's election laws, not the county clerks. Jefferson v. Dane County, 2020 WI 90, 394 Wis. 2d 602, 951 N.W.2d 556, 20-0557.