5.68 Cost of elections.

(1) The cost of acquisition of ballot boxes and voting booths, voting machines or electronic voting systems and regular maintenance thereof shall be borne by the municipalities in which the boxes, booths, machines or systems are used.

(2) Except as otherwise expressly provided, all costs for ballots, supplies, notices and any other materials necessary in preparing or conducting any election shall be paid for by the county or municipality whose clerk or board of election commissioners is responsible for providing them. If a ballot is prepared for a school, technical college, sewerage or sanitary district, the district shall pay for the cost of the ballot. If no other level of government is involved in a school, technical college, sewerage or sanitary district election, the district shall pay for all costs of the ballots, supplies, notices and other materials. If ballots, supplies, notices or other materials are used for elections within more than one unit of local government, the costs shall be proportionately divided between the units of local government involved in the election. In a 1st class city, all costs otherwise attributable to a school district shall be paid by the city.

(3) If voting machines are used or if an electronic voting system is used in which all candidates and referenda appear on the same ballot, the ballots for all national, state and county offices and for county and state referenda shall be prepared and paid for by the county wherein they are used. If the voting machine or electronic voting system ballot includes a municipal or school, technical college, sewerage or sanitary district ballot, the cost of that portion of the ballot shall be reimbursed to the county or paid for by the municipality or district, except as provided in a 1st class city school district under sub. (2).

(4) The cost of compensation of election officials and trainees shall be borne in the manner provided in s. 7.03.

(5) If a charge is made for the use of a polling place, the charge shall be paid by the municipality establishing the polling place under s. 5.25 (2) unless the polling place is used to conduct a special election that is called by a unit of government other than the state or the municipality establishing the polling place and the special election is not held concurrently with an election specified in s. 5.02 (5), (12s), (21), or (22). In such case the charge shall be paid by the unit of government that calls the special election.

(6) The clerk of each county or municipality shall submit an invoice to the clerk of each municipality or district which is responsible for payment of election costs under this section. The municipality or district shall make payment to the county or municipal treasurer.

History: 1979 c. 260, 311, 355; 1985 a. 304; 1993 a. 399; 1999 a. 182; 2001 a. 16; 2005 a. 333, 451; 2011 a. 32; 2013 a. 165; 2015 a. 118.