the same place and ride together to work. At the
Capitol. A new slate of legislative proposals would
speed up the return of election results by
allowing the counting of absentee ballots the Monday
before polls open and make. A Siegler changes,
including security for absentee ballot boxes. The
Republican author of the bills is looking to work
across the aisle on the measures. But even those
Democrats agreeing to a bipartisan process don't
yet support the proposals. So where do any of these
election rules stand? We asked the Assembly
Assistant Majority leader and Vice chair of the
Assembly Committee on Campaigns and Elections,
Representative Scott Krug. I spoke with him earlier.
Representative Krug, thanks very much for being here.
>> It's great to be here. allowing an early count of
absentee ballots on the Monday before a Tuesday
election? >> Yeah, we just know from
the last few cycles that Milwaukee has been the the
later reporter amongst the election results in the
state of Wisconsin. It's led to conspiracies that
there is late night ballot dumps and all kinds of
conjecture that's built from that and exploded over
the years every time we have a statewide election.
So the answer is to do what 43 other states do, and to
figure out a way that we can get the ballots counted
and people can go to bed knowing who won the
election on Election day. >> What kind of support do
you have for that? >> You know, the state
Assembly voice voted last session. This session,
we've got to figure out a way to get it through the
state Senate. So we've got to do it a little bit
differently than we did components of the absentee
processing on Monday are the same as they were last
session. But now it's combined with a few
different ideas. So we've got to build some support
in the state Senate to get there.
to do with new security rules for ballot drop boxes.
>> Yeah. >> What do those look like?
>> So what we did is we worked with some groups to
do some polling to see what the most important issues
in elections were. And the two things that people
talked about the most were knowing who won the
election before they go to bed and making sure drop
boxes are safe and secure. So this bill combines those
two ideas and says all the guidance from the federal
government on drop boxes, all the guidance from the
for size, standards, locations, dates and times
of uses. And we're going to do what other states do and
video record the use of drop boxes in the state of
Wisconsin. >> So when President Trump
says he wants to ban mail in voting and go back to
hand-counting ballots, you said in an article I read,
quote, we put out the fire. He stokes it. What do you
mean by that? >> Yeah, there's a
competition, right? Is every time we get to an
answer on what Wisconsin election should look like,
and under the Constitution, we have the right as a
state to decide what our elections look like. So our
bill package does talk about a lot of the things
that President Trump has brought up about security,
knowing who the person is, who's voting, things like
that. But we also want to know, like I've said a few
times, that we want to know who won the election on
Election day, going back to hand counting or not using
machines delays that into perpetuity. So just trying
to set aside the conjecture that the machines are the
problem or that we're having late night ballot
dumps. We can still do absentee voting by mail in
Wisconsin and get the job done on Election Day.
>> Now you're looking for bipartisan agreement on
these bills and held a news conference this week with a
Democratic lawmaker. Here's what she had to say.
>> I do not endorse any of his bills and his package,
and I don't support the current draft of Monday
processing or absentee ballot guidelines. But
setting that aside, today, we are meeting the moment
our country and our state has never been more divided
and more contentious. The partisan divide has become
not just contentious, but even hostile. Rep Krug and
I will continue to model that civil conversations
and debate can happen in the same room, from the
same podium, and with the same goal in mind, in spite
of diverging ideas. And as I have told him, I look
forward to this spirited debate in a future
committee hearing. >> So this is this is super
interesting that Representative Snodgrass
endorse your proposals, but she stands beside you. What
is this about? >> We have struck up this
relationship on elections the last three years, ever
since I took the committee that each other at least
know what the others are doing, that we don't want
to surprise each other first and foremost. That
second, we talk about concepts before they come
to committee so we can have an idea of what we're
trying to have an exchange of ideas on. And third,
that we sit in that room in front of the public and
hash out our differences when it comes to what we
think is the most important issue in Wisconsin, it was
just elections. We know that the building is seen
as you know, elections are a proxy for almost
everything that we do. If we don't have safe, secure
elections and trust in our system, people aren't going
to trust anything else we do in the Capitol. So this
relationship is built just on the idea that we want to
make sure we each know what we're doing.
Democrats, as you know, who decry your efforts, saying
the bills add in partizan poison pills that come from
the, quote, extreme flank of the Republican caucus.
Referencing things like rules around election
observers. What's your response to that?
as the extreme flank of my party, I don't know how to
tell them, you know, who might actually be. But
these are things that we've talked about in committee
the last three years, whether it's ballot curing,
whether it's drop boxes, whether it's Monday
processing. There's nothing new in any of these in any
of this project that we're working on. It's just the
way that they're combined. I think that makes them not
understand exactly what we're trying to accomplish.
>> Have you worked with Governor Evers on any of
this? Do you expect him to sign this into law should
they pass? >> You know, and that's
what I told the legislative Democrats, is that, you
know, to be bipartisan, they don't necessarily need
them all to agree. I need the governor to agree.
Right. And we're in this place now where I think the
governor recognizes he wants to get some more
things done. And like I said, I think the most
important area that he could find some bipartisan
support and build a legacy is securing our elections
and building trust for everybody in the state of
Wisconsin. So, yeah, we are, you know, engaged in
conversations with the sure they understand
exactly what we're trying to accomplish and how, for
these bills all working together can expand access,
ensure results, and make ensure results, and make