Evers takes action on election-related measures, including AI and poll closures

Gov. Tony Evers, taking action on 54 bills Thursday, signed several election-related measures, including one that requires political ads to disclose the use of artificial intelligence (AI) and one meant to provide protections for elections officials. He also vetoed several election-related proposals, including one that would have decreased the distance between election observers and workers. 

Evers signed AB 664, now 2023 Wisconsin Act 123, which seeks to address the growing concerns about how AI and “deep fakes” could affect the 2024 elections by requiring the disclosure of the use of AI in political ads. Specifically, the measure requires that all audio and video communications include the words “Contains content generated by AI.” Violators could face a penalty of up to $1,000 for each violation. 

Reps. Adam Neylon (R-Pewaukee), Clinton Anderson (D-Beloit) and Sen. Mark Spreitzer (D-Beloit) all celebrated the passage of the bill in statements, saying it was a significant step towards transparency and ensuring Wisconsin residents are informed.

“The use of AI to create a political ad is not inherently good or bad. Generative AI could be used to create a clever animation to illustrate a candidate’s views, or it could be used to create a realistic-looking video clip that makes it look like their opponent said something they never did,” Spreitzer said. “This bill will leave it up to voters to determine whether what they are seeing or hearing is “fair,” but it will give voters the information to know that what they are seeing or hearing may not be “real.” 

Evers signed another bill, now 2023 Wisconsin Act 126, that is meant to help protect elections officials. 

Under the legislation, the personal information of election officials will not be subject to open records requests and whistleblower protections will be provided to municipal clerks and officials who report suspected fraud. The bill also makes it a Class I felony to cause “bodily harm” to an election official, including registration officials and clerks. 

The legislation doesn’t take effect until July 1, 2025, so it won’t be in place for the upcoming election cycle. 

Evers also signed AB 298, now 2023 Wisconsin Act 124, which prohibits municipalities from closing more than half of polling places within 30 days before an election, and from closing any polling place without the approval of the head of the municipality’s governing body and the municipal clerk. 

The other bills Evers signed into law on include: 

• SB 374, now 2023 Wisconsin Act 147, which instructs the state Department of Revenue to conduct a study on the effects of instituting income tax reciprocity between Wisconsin and Minnesota
• AB 29, now 2023 Wisconsin Act 149, which grants a sales tax exemption on the sale of coins and precious metal bullion 
• SB 313, now 2023 Wisconsin Act 154, which increases the minimum penalty for failing to stop for a school bus with flashing red lights activated from $30 to $500 and increases the maximum penalty from $300 to $1,000

Several election-related bills, including one that would reduce the distance between election observers and workers, were vetoed by Evers. 

Evers vetoed AB-543. The bill would have required election observers to be placed a maximum of three feet away from the table where voters announce their name and address and where people register to vote and violators could have faced imprisonment for up to 90 days and a fine of up to $1,000.

In his veto message, Evers said Wisconsin’s election laws already provide “robust election security measures to ensure persons who wish to observe our elections have the opportunity to do so.” Currently, observers are required to be placed anywhere between a minimum of three feet and a maximum of eight feet away. He added that the provisions in the bill would increase the potential for observers to intimidate voters and election workers. 

“I cannot support legislation that could enable voter intimidation and prevent election workers from effectively and efficiently carrying out their important duties without interference,” Evers stated.

Evers also vetoed AB 476 — a bill that would have required any vacancies for secretary of state, treasurer, attorney general or state superintendent of public instruction that occur during the first three years of a term be filled by a special election. Vacancies that occur following Jan. 1 of a year in which  there is an election could be filled by appointment under the proposal, but would require confirmation from the Senate. 

Evers said the bill was a “purely partisan reaction” to his appointment of Secretary of State Sarah Godlewski to the position after former Secretary of State Doug La Follette announced his retirement in March 2023 — just a few months into his new term. He said he objected to the Legislature’s “continued, widespread efforts to infringe upon executive branch authority,” and “giving additional advice and consent authority to a hyper-partisan Wisconsin State Senate that has consistently abused” the power to “exact political retribution, threaten and bully dedicated public servants and cause irreparable damage to our state’s institutions.”

The comments followed a legislative session during which the Republican supermajority in the Senate fired a slate of Evers’ appointees, bringing the total rejected since he took office in 2019 to 21. 

Evers also vetoed SB 736, which would have required the Legislative Audit Bureau to conduct a performance audit of election processes following general elections. Evers said in his veto message that he objected to the Legislature’s “ongoing efforts to interfere with and usurp control over election administration.” He noted that the Wisconsin Election Commission already audits the performance of voting systems to determine error rates after every general election, and WEC is already required to order or take remedial action if an error rate exceeds the rate permitted under federal standards. 

“No need exists for the Legislature to create and oversee a separate, duplicative and less effective process,” Evers stated.