5.35 Polling place requirements.

(1) National flag. On election days, every polling place shall properly display the national flag during all hours the polls are open.

(2) Voting booths. There shall be one voting booth for every 200 electors who voted at the last general election. The booths shall have a surface on which to write or work and be sufficiently enclosed to assure privacy for the elector and anyone lawfully assisting the elector while marking the elector's ballot.

(3) Ballot boxes. Where the voting procedure makes it necessary, there shall be a separate ballot box for each form of ballot at each polling place. There shall be a suitable lock and key for each, and an opening no larger than is sufficient to receive a single ballot or a single folded ballot if the box is used for deposit of paper ballots. If the electors of more than one ward use the same polling place, there shall be separate ballot boxes provided for the electors of each ward, unless combined ballot boxes are authorized in accordance with s. 5.15 (6) (b).

(4) Layout; organization. All voting booths and machines shall be placed apart from other activities in the polling place, with their exteriors in full view of the election officials. Only the proper election officials, persons observing the proceedings under s. 7.41, persons assisting voters under s. 6.82 (2) and electors receiving, preparing or depositing their ballots or casting their votes on the machines are permitted in the voting area. Except where assistance is authorized, only one elector at a time is permitted in a voting booth or machine.

(5) Activities restricted. No polling place may be situated so as to interfere with or distract election officials from carrying out their duties. The municipal clerk and election inspectors shall prevent interference with and distraction of electors at polling places.

(6) Posting requirements.

(a) At each polling place in the state, the municipal clerk or board of election commissioners shall post the following materials, positioned so that they may be readily observed by electors entering the polling place or waiting in line to vote:

1. The relevant portions of the voting instructions in the type B notice for the election as specified in s. 10.02 (3) and, for each referendum on the ballot, the text of the type C notice specified in s. 10.01 (2) (c).

2. A copy of the election fraud laws provided in s. 12.13 (1) and (3) (intro), (d), (f), (g), (k), (L), (o), (q), (r), (u), and (x), together with the applicable penalties provided in s. 12.60 (1).

2m. General information prescribed by the commission on federal laws relating to election fraud and misrepresentation in federal elections.

3. Two sample ballots prepared under s. 5.66 (2).

4. The date of the election and the hours during which the polling place is open.

4a. Instructions prescribed by the commission for electors for whom proof of identification is required under s. 6.79 (2) or for whom proof of residence under s. 6.34 is required under s. 6.55 (2).

4b. General information prescribed by the commission concerning voting rights under applicable state and federal laws, including the method of redress for any alleged violations of those rights.

5. Any other voting information directed to be posted by the commission.

(b) At each polling place in the state where a consolidated ballot under s. 5.655 is used or an electronic voting system is utilized at a partisan primary election incorporating a ballot upon which electors may mark votes for candidates of more than one recognized political party, the municipal clerk or board of election commissioners shall prominently post a sign in the form prescribed by the commission warning electors in substance that on any ballot with votes cast for candidates of more than one recognized political party, no votes cast for any candidates for partisan office will be counted unless a preference for a party is made. If the elector designates a preference, only votes cast for candidates of that preference will be counted.

(c) At each polling place located in a municipality that is served by more than one polling place for an election, the municipal clerk or board of election commissioners shall prominently post a map of the geographic area served by the polling place for that election. The posting shall clearly show the boundaries of the ward or wards served by the polling place for that election.

History: 1975 c. 85, 199; 1977 c. 427; 1979 c. 260, 311, 355; 1981 c. 4, 20; 1983 a. 484; 1985 a. 304; 1999 a. 182; 2001 a. 16; 2003 a. 265; 2005 a. 451; 2011 a. 23, 32; 2015 a. 118 s. 266 (10).