Opinion ID: 1810178
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 6

Heading: information to electors

Text: Voting instructions shall be given substantially as follows: (a) Upon entering the polling place, an elector shall give his or her name and address before being permitted to vote. Where paper ballots are used, the initials of 2 ballot clerks must appear on the ballot. Upon being permitted to vote, the elector shall retire alone to a voting booth or machine and cast his or her ballot. An election official may inform the elector of the proper manner for casting a ballot, but the official shall not in any manner advise or indicate for whom to vote. (b) 1. If an elector wishes to vote for all candidates nominated by any party, the elector shall make a cross or other mark in the circle or depress the lever or button under the party designation printed at the top of the ballot. Unless a name has been erased or crossed out, another name written in, a mark placed to the right of a candidate for the same office in another column or a sticker applied, a mark in the circle at the top of the column is a vote for all the party's candidates listed in the column. If an elector does not wish to vote for all the candidates nominated by one party, the elector shall make a cross or mark in the square at the right of or separately depress the levers or buttons next to each candidate's name for whom he or she intends to vote, or shall insert or write in the name of a candidate. 2. At the presidential preference primary or a special partisan primary, the elector shall select the party ballot of his or her choice and shall make a cross or other mark in the square at the right of or depress the lever or button next to the candidate's name for each office for whom the elector intends to vote, or shall insert or write in the name of the elector's choice for a candidate. 2m. At the September primary, the elector shall select the party ballot of his or her choice or the ballot containing the names of the independent candidates for state office, and make a cross or other mark in the square at the right of or depress the lever or button next to the candidate's name for each office for whom the elector intends to vote or insert or write in the name of the elector's choice for a party candidate, if any. In order to qualify for participation in the Wisconsin election campaign fund, a candidate for state office at the September primary must receive at least 6% of all votes cast on all ballots for the office for which he or she is a candidate, in addition to other requirements. 3. When casting a presidential preference vote, the elector shall select the party ballot of his or her choice and make a cross or other mark in the space at the right of or depress the button or lever next to the candidate's name for whom he or she intends to vote or shall, in the alternative, make such a cross or mark in the space at the right of or depress the button or lever next to the word no when only one candidate is shown on the ballot or none of the names shown when several candidates are shown on the ballot, or shall write in the name of his or her choice for a candidate. 4. At a nonpartisan primary, the elector shall place a cross or other mark in the square at the right of or depress the button or lever next to the candidate's name for each office for whom he or she intends to vote, or insert or write in the name of his or her choice for a candidate. (c) In presidential elections, the elector shall place a cross or other mark in the square at the right of or depress the button or lever next to the set of candidates for president and vice president for whom he or she intends to vote. The vote shall be counted for all the candidates for presidential electors of those candidates. (d) On referenda questions, the elector shall make a cross or other mark in the square at the right of or depress the button or lever next to the answer which he or she intends to give. (e) The vote should not be cast in any other manner. If the elector spoils a ballot, he or she shall return it to an election official who shall issue another in its place, but not more than 3 ballots shall be issued to any one elector. If the ballot has not been initialed by 2 ballot clerks or is defective in any other way, the elector shall return it to the election official, who shall issue a proper ballot in its place. Not more than 5 minutes' time shall be allowed inside a voting booth or machine. Unofficial ballots or a memorandum to assist the elector in marking his or her ballot may be taken into the booth and copied. The sample ballot shall not be shown to anyone so as to reveal how the ballot is marked. (f) After an official paper ballot is marked, it shall be folded so the inside marks do not show but so the printed indorsements and ballot clerks' initials on the outside do show. After casting his or her ballot, the elector shall leave the machine or booth, and where paper ballots are used, give his or her name to the inspector in charge of the ballot box, hand the inspector his or her folded ballot to be placed in the ballot box, and shall leave the polling place promptly. (g) An elector may be assisted by 2 election officials of different political parties in casting his or her vote if the elector declares to the presiding official that he or she is unable to read, has difficulty reading, writing or understanding English or that due to physical disability is unable to cast his or her ballot. Alternatively, an elector making such declaration may have another elector of the county assist in marking the ballot or operating a voting machine. The presiding official may administer an oath to a person making such declaration. (h) The following is a facsimile of the official ballot: (insert facsimile of ballot) ...., (County Clerk) (Municipal Clerk) (4) No further publication of notice provided for by this section or by a type B notice shall be required by the county or municipal clerk. COFFEY, J. (concurring) I concur with the court's opinion that the spring primary law is constitutional and binding on the state and national parties and that Wisconsin's spring primary election is one of the most important progressive traditions of this state. The court rightly refuses to be a party to manipulation of the people's right to vote in an open and binding primary election. What is in conflict is the National Democratic Party's desire to limit the people's freedom of choice as opposed to the interests of the state in maintaining and increasing voter participation in the process by which our national leaders are chosen. The instrument used by the National Democratic Party, the public declaration of party affiliation, is poorly designed to further its announced goal of freedom of association. The associational interest thus advanced is greatly outweighed by the state's interest in protecting the privacy of the voting booth, encouraging full participation in the electoral process and maintaining the integrity of the Wisconsin nonpartisan spring election of local town boards, municipal, county and school boards and members of the state judiciary. Party politics has no place in the selection of those responsible for the education of our children. Further, nothing could be more destructive of the concept of an independent, elected judiciary than party politics. This court has made it very clear that judges are not to become involved in party politics. Rule 12 of the Code of Judicial Ethics provides as follows: A judge shall not be a member of any political party or participate in its affairs, caucuses, promotions, platforms, endorsements, conventions, or activities. He shall not make or solicit financial or other contributions in support of its causes, or publicly endorse or speak on behalf of its candidates or platforms. Is it the intent of the National Democratic Party to disenfranchise 190 trial judges, 12 appellate judges and 7 justices of the supreme court of their constitutional right to vote on April 1, 1980? A closed primary, where the only participants are those who publicly announce their affiliation with a political party, would seriously undermine the nonpartisan judicial elections to be held at the same time. The pressures on a candidate to violate the foregoing rule would be enormous. It is intolerable for the National Democratic Party to seek to impose on the state of Wisconsin a primary election system which would infringe on our independent, elected judiciary and our nonpartisan elected town, county, municipal and school board officials. Robert M. La Follette, Sr. promoted the open primary as a means of restoring lost confidence in government. In these days when suspicion is so strong as to almost approach a belief in the dishonesty and lack of integrity of our government officials, it is most imperative that the electorate have and exercise its right to participate in the selection of candidates, as well as the right to choose between the candidates selected. The Wisconsin voter is equally competent to cast his or her ballot at the primary or the general election. Invading the voter's privacy by requiring party affiliation be a matter of public record places undue pressure on the voter not to participate. Many will not take the chance that their names will appear on mailing lists and their privacy be further invaded. They will leave the field to the party professionals, the political bosses. The Wisconsin open primary is more than an antibossism tradition as old as this century. It is also conducted at the same time as the nonpartisan spring election. These elections are another important Wisconsin tradition. It is no answer to say that the primary election can be open so long as it is not binding on the delegates. The legislature has declared an open and binding primary election to be the public policy of the state of Wisconsin. In recognizing this, our court has prevented the application of the unfortunate policy of the National Democratic Party so as to impose a closed or non-binding primary on the citizens of Wisconsin. I agree.