This post originally appeared at https://wisconsindailystar.com/news/wisconsin-republicans-ok-election-amendments/gastarnewsstaff/2023/11/08/

by Benjamin Yount

Wisconsin voters will get two questions about election integrity next fall.

The State Senate approved proposed constitutional amendments that would clarify that only U.S. citizens 18 years old and older can vote in the state, and would ban the use of so-called outside private money in Wisconsin elections.

Senators also approved a third question as well that would enshrine voter ID into the state constitution, but that has to be voted on again next year before it can go to voters.

“These amendments are common sense solutions that help to strengthen the integrity of our elections,” Sen. Duey Stroebel, R-Cedarburg, said.

SJR 71 will ensure only U.S. citizens who are 18 or older and eligible to vote can vote in Wisconsin’s elections. And it prohibits state and local governments from accepting private grants, like the those that came from Mark Zuckerberg in 2020, for the public administration of elections.

“Wisconsin received over $10 million in unaccountable grants from a group funded by out-of-state tech billionaire Mark Zuckerberg to oversee elections administration, a job that is the responsibility of local government. Twenty-seven other states, across the political spectrum, have taken steps to ban ‘Zuckerbucks.’ The administration of our elections is something that we should all take seriously, and it is not a job that we can outsource to unaccountable private groups,” Stoebel (pictured above, left) said.

State Sen. Mary Felzkowski, R-Tomahawk, said all three questions are not about Republicans or Democrats. She said they are about restoring confidence in Wisconsin’s electoral process.

“Our elections are sacred, and they shouldn’t be funded by third-parties. These elections are also for the citizens of our great nation and state, and we should only have citizens voting in them,” Felzkowski pictured above, right) said.

The Senate approved the amendments on a 21-10 vote.

That’s the same vote count that Senators used to approve a fourth proposed constitutional amendment that would keep churches and other houses of worship open in the next pandemic.

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Benjamin Yount is a contributor to The Center Square.
Photo “Senator Duey Stroebel” by Senator Duey Stroebel. Photo “Mary Felzkowski” by Mary Felzkowski.

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