7.23 Destruction of election materials.

(1) All materials and supplies associated with an election, except as provided in sub. (2), may be destroyed according to the following schedule:

(a) Except as provided in par. (am), unused materials after an election and the contents of the blank ballot box after a primary may be destroyed at a time and in a manner designated by the appropriate clerk.

(am) Unused ballots may be discarded or destroyed no earlier than the day after the latest day for the filing of a petition for a recount under s. 9.01 for any office on the ballots.

(c) Registration forms of electors whose registrations are changed to ineligible status under s. 6.50 (7) may be destroyed 4 years after the change, unless an elector becomes eligible again during that period.

(d) Financial reports may be destroyed 6 years after the date of receipt. Financial registration statements may be destroyed 6 years after termination of registration.

(e) Poll lists created for any election may be destroyed 22 months after the election at which they were created.

(f) Except as authorized in par. (g), ballots, applications for absentee ballots, registration forms, or other records and papers requisite to voting at any federal election, other than registration cards, may be destroyed after 22 months.

(g) Detachable recording units and compartments for use with tabulating equipment for an electronic voting system may be cleared or erased 14 days after any primary and 21 days after any other election. Before clearing or erasing the units or compartments, a municipal clerk shall transfer the data contained in the units or compartments to a disk or other recording medium which may be erased or destroyed 22 months after the election to which the data relates. The requirement to transfer data does not apply to units or compartments for use with tabulating equipment for an electronic voting system that was approved for use prior to January 1, 2009, and that is not used in a federal election.

(h) Except as provided in par. (f), ballots may be destroyed 30 days after any election.

(i) Official canvasses may be destroyed 10 years after the election to which they relate.

(j) Election notices, and proofs of publication and correspondence filed in connection with such notices may be destroyed one year after the date of the election to which they relate.

(k) All other materials and supplies associated with an election may be destroyed 90 days after the election.

(2) If a recount is pending or if the time allowed for filing a recount petition at any election or an appeal or petition for review of any recount determination or decision at an election has not expired, no materials may be destroyed until after the recount is completed and the applicable time period has expired. In addition, if there is litigation pending with respect to a recount at an election, materials may be destroyed and recording units or compartments may be cleared or erased only by order of the court in which litigation is pending. Upon petition of the attorney general or a district attorney or U.S. attorney for the affected jurisdiction, a circuit judge for the affected jurisdiction may order that specified materials not be destroyed or that specified recorders, units or compartments not be cleared or erased as otherwise authorized under this subsection until the court so permits.

History: 1973 c. 334; 1975 c. 85, 200; 1977 c. 394 s. 53; 1977 c. 427; 1979 c. 260 ss. 42, 94; 1979 c. 311, 328; 1983 a. 484 ss. 60 to 63, 174; 1985 a. 304 ss. 82, 143; 1987 a. 391; 2003 a. 265; 2005 a. 451; 2009 a. 397; 2011 a. 23; 2015 a. 117.