Wisconsin Senate Bill SB143

Wisconsin 2025-2026 Regular Session

• Introduced: 3/21/25
• Refer: 3/21/25
• Failed: 3/23/26

Caption

An Act to amend 8.18 (1); to create 8.18 (3) of the statutes; Relating to: the nomination of presidential electors.

Summary

SB143 changes Wisconsin’s process for nominating presidential electors in presidential election years. Under current law, the electors for each political party are nominated at a convention held at the state capitol by candidates for the state senate or assembly, state officers, and holdover state senators. The bill keeps that process in place as the default, but adds an alternative procedure when a party does not have any of those officeholders or candidates available. In that situation, the chairperson of the party’s state committee would be required to nominate the party’s presidential electors by 10 a.m. on the first Tuesday in October before the presidential election. The chairperson would nominate one elector from each congressional district and two at-large electors, and would immediately certify those names to the chairperson of the commission. The bill therefore creates a backup nomination method to ensure a party can still submit presidential elector nominees even if it lacks the officeholders who would normally participate in the convention.

Impact

The bill amends Wisconsin Statutes section 8.18(1) and creates section 8.18(3). Its practical effect is to modify the statutory nomination procedure for presidential electors by adding a party-chair fallback process in years when a political party has no qualifying legislative or statewide officeholders. It affects political parties, party state committees, and the state election administration process for certifying presidential electors.

Sentiment

The available record shows no committee transcript or recorded vote debate, so there is no detailed public discussion to gauge support or opposition. The bill was introduced and referred to committee, but ultimately failed to pass pursuant to Senate Joint Resolution 1. Based on the text alone, the measure appears procedural and administrative rather than ideological, suggesting its purpose was to preserve ballot access and continuity in the elector nomination process.

Contention

The main point of potential contention is the shift of nomination authority from a convention of elected party officials to the chairperson of the state committee when a party lacks candidates or officeholders. Supporters would likely view this as a practical safeguard to prevent a party from being unable to nominate electors; opponents might see it as reducing the role of broader party participation or changing the balance of internal party decision-making. Another possible issue is whether the fallback process could advantage party leadership over rank-and-file members in low-presence election years.