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Bill to allow early electronic voting gets hearing in Madison

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Votes would be entered into machine but not counted until election day 

Early voting in Wisconsin could be done electronically this year.

A bill will get a hearing this week in Madison allowing early electronic voting rather than submitting an early absentee paper ballot that gets opened and counted on election night.

It’s just a policy shift that simplifies the voting process, says Republican legislator and bill sponsor Janel Brandtjen.

“They already have the machines,” she said. “They’re there. They’re able to be used. Why wouldn’t we take advantage of technology? I kind of look at this as working smarter, not harder.”

Under the proposal, whether to do the early electronic voting would be left up to individual municipalities. They could voluntarilty opt into electronic early voting.

“This is really just about, instead of putting it in an envelope, you as a voter have the opportunity to feed it into a machine,” Brandtjen said.

While the votes would be entered into machines, they wouldn’t actually be counted until election night.

Brandtjen added that the proposal will make the in-person, absentee voting process go smoother.

“Whenever there’s a policy change, there’s concerns on both sides,” she said. “This is a cost saving policy change that really allows our voters to get more integrity and, more importantly, to feel that every vote is being counted.”

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