GOP lawmakers introduce bill to add watermarks to absentee ballots. Clerks say it would create problems.
MADISON - Republican lawmakers have introduced a bill that would require watermarks on absentee ballots, but election clerks say the measure could create more problems while solving none.
The measure, written by Rep. Scott Allen, R-Waukesha, and Sen. Romaine Quinn, R-Cameron, would require absentee ballots that are mailed to voters to "contain a watermark that identifies the ballot as an official absentee ballot."
“To help curb public distrust in absentee ballots, it is certainly worth the additional cost to make our absentee ballots secure and restore trust in our election process," Allen said.
In response to former President Donald Trump's false claims of widespread fraud in the 2020 election, Republicans have focused on absentee ballot security in past legislative sessions. Multiple election reviews —including one by a conservative group — have proven that voter fraud is exceptionally rare.
Many of the past Republican proposals, such as a bill to limit who can return an absentee ballot on behalf of a voter, never received a full vote in one chamber or the other.
A spokesman for the Wisconsin Elections Commission, which provides guidance to clerks across the state, did not respond to a request for comment on the bill.
Diane Coenen, the clerk for the City of Oconomowoc and the chairwoman of the Wisconsin Municipal Clerks Association, said the organization does not support the bill.
"We do not see a problem that needs to be fixed, nor do we see anything substantive that a watermark will fix," Coenen said. "The legislation, to us, is really addressing what we see as mistrust in some peoples' minds."
Clerks say watermarked ballots would pose additional challenges
Clerks say the watermarks would pose additional challenges, including deciding how many watermarked absentee ballots to purchase and ensuring that the machines could even count the ballots accurately.
Coenen explained that clerks have to decide how many absentee vs. regular ballots to order, as extra watermarked ballots could not be used on Election Day.
"Not only would it create a balancing problem at the poll, but it would cause recount problems and audit problems if we tried to use those watermarked ballots," Coenen said. "We would probably have to up our orders, which costs the taxpayers because we would need more ballots."
She added that machine manufacturers would have to make sure voter equipment could read watermarked absentee ballots. That equipment may need to get tested and recertified, which also costs money.
"Watermarks actually interfere with the machine being able to read the ballot," said Scott McDonell, the clerk for Dane County. "So, it would cause a security problem."
In a memo circulated to lawmakers asking them to co-sponsor the legislation, Allen and Quinn said watermarks would prevent copies being made, but Coenen said a photocopy could still be made with or without a watermark.
"I've never seen that or heard of (copies being made)," McDonell said, noting that absentee ballots go out with a clerk's initials and come back with a voter and witness signature. "These are the security measures we have."
Aides to Allen and Quinn did not immediately have a reaction to the clerks' analysis of the bill.
Another absentee ballot bill has bipartisan support
The watermark bill was introduced last year but did not receive a hearing. Sen. Dan Knodl, R-Germantown, who chairs the Senate committee on elections, did not say whether he would hold a hearing on the measure.
The chair of the election committee on the Assembly side, Rep. Scott Krug, R-Nekoosa, said last month that wants his committee to start its work by holding hearings for bills that have bipartisan support.
More: Former Republican Sen. Kathy Bernier leading bipartisan group on election education
One of those bills would require military voters to provide their Department of Defense number when requesting an absentee ballot. Lawmakers drafted that bill in response to a rare case in which a Milwaukee election official fraudulently requested three military absentee ballots.
Coenen said she supports that measure, explaining she does not see providing an identification number as a "hardship or an issue, and it does add another level of security."
Hope Karnopp can be reached at hkarnopp@gannett.com.
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This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Republicans bill seeks to add watermarks to absentee ballots
