Section 10.10. Employee trust funds board and teachers retirement board elections.

 

(1)   Purpose. This section establishes procedures for all elections of persons to the employee trust funds board or the teachers retirement board, pursuant to ss. 15.16 (1) (d) and (f) , 15.165 (1) and (3) (a) 1. , 2. , 6. , and 7. , and 40.03 (2) (p) , Stats. Except where noted otherwise, these procedures shall apply for elections to either the employee trust funds board or the teachers retirement board.

(1m)   Definitions. In this section:

(a) "Annuitant" has the meaning given in s. 40.02 (4) , Stats.

(b) "Election category" means the class of participating employees or annuitants who are eligible under s. 15.16 (1) (d) or (f) , or 15.165 (3) (a) 1. , 2. , 6. , or 7. , Stats., to vote to elect a member to the employee trust funds board or the teachers retirement board.

(c) "Participating employee" has the meaning given in s. 40.02 (46) , Stats.

(d) "Teacher" has the meaning given in s. 40.02 (55) , Stats.

(2)   Scheduling of elections.

(ag) Situations requiring an election. The secretary shall schedule an election when the term for an elective board position is due to expire or the position is vacated for any reason.

(ar) Regular elections. When a term is due to expire, the secretary shall schedule the election to ensure that the election is completed and the new board member announced prior to the date the new term commences.

(b) Vacancies. If an elective board position is vacant for any reason other than the term expiring, the secretary shall schedule an election at a time determined by the secretary. The annuitant or participating employee elected in an election to fill a position vacated prior to the end of a term shall serve the remainder of the unexpired term.

(3)   Call for nominations. The department shall publish, in a manner determined by the secretary, the notice of the election, the nomination timetable, and instructions explaining the nomination process for a prospective candidate.

(4)   Nomination Procedures. A candidate shall be nominated by petition on forms provided by the department. Petitions shall be received by the department no later than the petition filing date in the nomination time schedule published under sub. (3) . A nominating petition received after this date is invalid. A candidate shall do all of the following:

(a) Submit a nominating petition. Submit to the department a nominating petition containing at least 25 but no more than 50 printed names and valid signatures of participating employees or annuitants eligible to vote in that election. The nominating petition shall contain the name and address of each signer's employer and the date signed. For an annuitant, the name and address of the signer's employer shall be that of the signer's last participating employer in the Wisconsin retirement system. The department will verify the entries on the petition based on records in the department. Entries that cannot be verified shall not be counted. If more than 50 signatures are submitted, the department shall review for validity only the first 50 signatures, based on the earliest date signed, and disregard the balance.

(b) Certify the nominating petition. Sign the nomination petition to certify that all signers are eligible to vote in the election category for which the candidate is running.

(c) Submit a candidate statement. Submit a candidate information form to the department containing no more than 150 words. The department shall print no more than the first 150 words of the candidate's information and make it available to eligible voters with the ballots. The candidate must sign the candidate information form verifying the accuracy and truthfulness of the information provided.

(5)   Nominations for the employee trust funds board. Any person who meets the eligibility requirements of s. 15.16 (1) (d) or (f) , Stats., on the date the person files nomination papers with the department and who plans to continue meeting the eligibility requirements upon election, may be nominated for election to the employee trust funds board by satisfying the requirements of pars. (4) (a) to (c) within the calendar dates established by the department.

(6)   Nominations for the teachers retirement board. Any person who meets the eligibility requirements of s. 15.165 (3) (a) 1. , 2. , 6. , or 7. , Stats., on the date the person files nomination papers with the department and who plans to continue meeting the eligibility requirements upon election, may be nominated for election to the teachers retirement board by satisfying the requirements of par. (4) (a) to (c) within the calendar dates established by the department.

(7)   Eligibility to vote.

(a) General requirements. A person shall be eligible to vote if the person is an annuitant or participating employee in the election category for which the election is being held and meets the other voting eligibility requirements in this section at the time ballot materials are printed for distribution and the department has a record of his or her eligibility.

(b) Teachers retirement board elections. A participating employee of the state department of public instruction, state department of health services, state technical college system, and the state educational communications board, who is classified as a teacher under the Wisconsin retirement system, is not employed by a public school or a technical college system district and may not vote in any election to elect a teacher to serve on the teachers retirement board.

(c) Teacher in public school and a technical college system district. For a teacher concurrently employed by both a public school and a technical college system district, the teacher shall be eligible to vote in both categories specified under s. 15.165 (3) (a) 1. and 2. , Stats.

(8)   Distribution procedures for paper ballots.

(ag) Scope. This subsection shall only apply to elections that are conducted using paper ballots. If an election is conducted using a combination of electronic and paper ballots, this subsection shall apply only to the paper ballots used in that election.

(ar) Ballot format. The department shall print ballots with the candidates' names in alphabetical order and shall include, when the ballots are distributed, instructions for marking the ballot and the deadline for its return.

(b) Distribution of ballots to participating employees. At the direction of the secretary, ballots may be distributed either through an employer or directly to a participating employee. If distributed through an employer, the department shall send each employer one ballot individually labeled with the participating employee's name for each participating employee in the election category for which the election is being held who is employed by the employer and whose position is known to the department. A distribution list, prepared by the department and containing the names of participating employees for whom ballots are included, shall accompany the ballots. The department shall require an employer to verify, by signing the distribution list, that the employer distributed the ballots within 30 days of the date they were mailed by the department. The employer shall indicate on the distribution list which ballots could not be distributed and shall return the undistributed ballots.

(c) Distribution of ballots to annuitants. The department shall send a ballot directly to each annuitant who is eligible to vote in that election at the last home address the department has on file.

(d) Distribution of ballots to teachers with multiple employment locations. If a teacher is employed in more than one employment location within an election category specified under s. 15.165 (3) (a) 1. or 2. , Stats., the department shall provide a paper ballot to only one location as determined by the department.

(e) Distribution of ballots to teachers employed in a public school and a technical college system district. For a teacher concurrently employed by both a public school and a technical college system district, the department shall provide a ballot to both locations.

(9)   Voting.

(ag) Voting methods. The secretary may conduct the election by paper ballots, electronic ballots, or a combination of such methods.

(ar) Voting procedure. The secretary shall approve a secure voting procedure that ensures that only a person eligible to vote is permitted to cast a vote, and that only one vote is recorded for each person who casts a vote in an election. A person eligible to vote shall cast his or her vote by indicating his or her choice of candidates in accordance with voting instructions approved by the secretary.

(b) Voting when there are multiple teachers retirement board positions to be filled. If there is more than one teachers retirement board position to be filled in an election category and an election is held, voters may vote for as many candidates, in the appropriate election category, as there are positions to be filled.

(10)   Certification of election results. The board for which an election is being held shall appoint an election committee that shall consist of the secretary of the department or the secretary's designee and 2 board members who are not running for reelection. A majority of the election committee appointed by the respective boards shall determine the validity of ballots set aside by the department and certify the election results.

(11)   Verification of election results. The department shall set aside a vote that it believes may be invalid under pars. (a) to (h) for review by the election committee. The election committee shall deem a vote invalid if any of the following apply:

(a) The signature is not the same as the name on the ballot.

(b) The ballot is not signed.

(c) Too many candidates have been voted for on the ballot.

(d) A ballot is so defective that the committee cannot determine with reasonable certainty for whom the ballot was cast.

(e) The ballot contains the name of a write-in candidate.

(f) The ballot was submitted by an ineligible voter.

(g) The ballot was not received within the period prescribed by the election notice.

(h) The vote was not cast in the manner prescribed by the secretary under sub. (9) (ar) .

(12)   Special situations.

(a) Insufficient number of candidates for holding an election. If the number of candidates whose nomination petitions are approved by the department is equal to or less than the number of positions to be filled within an election category, all of the following shall apply:

1. The department shall not schedule an election.

2. The election committee shall not be appointed or convened.

3. The department shall declare all candidates as elected.

(b) Multiple positions to be filled in an election category that do not have an equivalent amount of time remaining in a term. If there are multiple positions to be filled within an election category and the vacant positions have different amounts of time remaining, the following shall apply:

1. If an election has been held, the candidate with the most votes shall receive the position with the most time remaining. The candidate with the second most votes shall receive the position with the second most time remaining, and so forth for any remaining candidates and positions.

2. If an election is not held because the number of candidates is equal to or less than the number of positions to be filled, but there are multiple candidates for the available positions, positions will be selected by the drawing of lots. If there is only one candidate and multiple vacant positions, the candidate will receive the position with most time remaining, unless the candidate requests otherwise from the secretary.

(13)   Tabulation of votes. The candidate who receives the largest number of votes shall be elected. The election committee shall break a tie by the drawing of lots. The counting of votes shall be conducted under the direction of the secretary or the secretary's designee.

(14)   Notification of election results. For elections scheduled because a term is due to expire, the department shall notify all candidates of the results by certified mail before May 1 following the close of the election. If the department calls an election for any reason other than the expiration of a term, the department shall notify all candidates by certified mail of the results of the election within 15 days of the close of the election.

(15)   Retention of board election materials. The department shall retain election reports, nominating petitions, and ballots for at least 1 year after the election is completed.

(16)   Recount of results. A candidate may request no more than one recount per election. To request a recount, the candidate shall submit a written request to the secretary within 10 business days of the date that the candidates were notified of the certified election results under sub. (14) . A recount shall be conducted under the direction of the secretary or designee. If the recount results change the ranking of the candidates, the recount results shall be certified by the election committee under sub. (10) and shall stand as the final election results.

Cr. Register, March, 1984, No. 339 , eff. 4-1-84; r. (5) and am. (7) (intro.), Register, January, 1985, No. 349 , eff. 2-1-85; am. (10), Register, September, 1992, No. 441 , eff. 10-1-92; am. (1) to (7) (a), (7) (c) to (11) (b), (d), (12), (13) and (15) to (17), cr. (1m) and (11) (e), r. (14), Register, April, 1993, No. 448 , eff. 5-1-93; corrections made under s 13.93 (2m) (b) 6., Stats., Register, July, 1997, No. 499 ; am. (1), (1m) (b) and (7) (intro.), Register, December, 2000, No. 540 , eff. 1-1-01; correction in (6) made under s. 13.92 (4) (b) 6., Stats., Register September 2009 No. 645 ; CR 12-020 : am. (1), cr. (1m) (title), am. (2), r. and recr. (3), (4), cr. (5), r. and recr. (6), (7), (8), (9), am. (11) (intro), cr. (11) (f) to (h), renum. (12) to be (12) (a) (intro), 1., 2., 3., cr. (12) (b), r. (13), renum. (15), (16), (17) to be (13), (14), (15) and am., cr. (16) Register May 2013 No. 689 , eff. 6-1-13; renum. (2) (intro), (a), (8) (intro), (a), (9) (intro), (a) to be (2) (ag), (ar), (8) (ag), (ar), (9) (ag), (ar) under s. 13.92 (4) (b) 1., Stats., cr. (2) (ag) (title), (8) (ag) (title), (9) (ag) (title) under s. 13.92 (4) (b) 2., Stats., Register May 2013 No. 689 .

Note

A Board Election Packet containing the Nominating Petition form and Candidate Information form can be obtained from the department by contacting the department's board liaison at 877-533-5020. Microsoft Windows NT 6.1.7601 Service Pack 1