Wisconsin Senate Bill SB513

Wisconsin 2025-2026 Regular Session

• Introduced: 10/9/25
• Refer: 10/9/25
• Failed: 3/23/26

Caption

An Act to create 6.31 of the statutes; Relating to: voter registration forms and information provided to certain high school students. (FE)

Summary

SB513 would require every Wisconsin school board to ensure that high school students in the district who become eligible to register to vote receive a voter registration form and information about voter eligibility. It also requires the distribution of nonpartisan educational materials explaining the role of the citizen and the importance of voting in elections. The bill creates a new statutory section, s. 6.31, to place this obligation on school boards statewide. In practical terms, it would add a new duty for school districts to provide voter-registration-related materials to eligible students, likely as part of school-based civic engagement or graduation-age outreach efforts. The bill does not change voter eligibility rules themselves; it focuses on information distribution and access to registration materials for newly eligible students.

Impact

SB513 would amend Wisconsin election law by creating s. 6.31 and imposing a new statewide requirement on school boards to provide voter registration forms and nonpartisan voting information to eligible high school students. The affected parties are school boards, high school students who are old enough to register to vote, and indirectly election administrators and civic education programs. Because the bill is framed as an information-distribution mandate, its legal effect is administrative rather than substantive on voting rights, but it would require school districts to adopt procedures to comply.

Sentiment

The available record shows no committee transcript or recorded votes, so there is no detailed public debate captured in the materials provided. The bill’s introduction by a broad group of Democratic senators and representatives suggests support among its authors for expanding student access to voter registration information and civic education. However, the bill ultimately failed to pass pursuant to Senate Joint Resolution 1, indicating that it did not secure final legislative approval.

Contention

No specific points of contention are documented in the provided transcripts or vote history. Based on the bill’s subject matter, likely areas of disagreement would have involved whether schools should be required to distribute voter-registration materials, how to define and ensure the materials are nonpartisan, and whether the mandate would impose administrative burdens on school districts. The absence of recorded discussion means the precise objections or support arguments cannot be confirmed from the available materials.