JANESVILLE Voters in the Janesville area will see five referendum questions on the November ballot, including three statewide constitutional questions, a proposed referendum on major development at the former General Motors site and a Janesville School District operational referendum.
This is the most constitutional amendments Janesville and Rock County people will have seen on the ballot since 1995. The record for ballot referendums on one election ticket in Wisconsin came in 1914. That year, the ballot had 11 referendums. A close second came in 1982, when the ballot had nine statewide referendums.
Voters in Evansville, Whitewater and Fort Atkinson all will have four referendums to vote on.
The number of questions on Janesvilles ballot five is more than voters in many other surrounding communities will see, Lori Stottler, clerk treasurer for the city of Janesville, said.
But Stottler said its becoming more common to see multiple referendums on a single ballot.
In recent history, this has been more of the norm, Stottler said. We have seen a lot of state referendums amending the constitution.
Lisa Tollefson, Rock Countys clerk, said it is not uncommon for referendums to be on the ballots because its a process to help amend the constitution. Most school districts have to hold them in April or November elections.
Tollefson acknowledged five referendum questions is a lot for one ballot. In this case, Tollefson said, its a higher number coming all at once.
Whats unusual is that in April we had no referendums, Tollefson said. Thats not the norm.
The three statewide questions would ask voters to amend the Wisconsin Constitution.
The first referendum would limit the governors partial veto authority by prohibiting the governor from using the power to create or increase a tax or fee.
The second would address gatherings in places of worship during a state of emergency, including a public health emergency.
The third would prohibit governmental entities from discriminating against or granting preferential treatment to individuals or groups based on race, sex, color, ethnicity or national origin in areas including public employment, public education, public contracting and public administration.
Janesville voters will also decide whether proposed development agreements, development projects, sales and leases involving the former GM/Janesville Assembly Plant site with project costs exceeding $450 million should require approval voter approval.
The Janesville School District referendum would ask voters to authorize the district to exceed its state-imposed revenue limit by specified amounts through 2031.
While the questions themselves will appear on ballots, additional explanations of the referendums will get published separately.
Stottler said those explanations are included in what is called a Type-C notice of referendum.
The notice explains the effect of a yes vote and the effect of a No vote. The law requires such common-language explainers for ballot referendums.
The notices are scheduled to be published in a local newspaper the day before the election, and will be posted at polling places and in-person absentee voting locations.
The state has made its own explanation of the referendums. Janesville School District has written its own, as has the city of Janesville on the GM referendum, which was brought through a citizen petition.
Some voters, those who vote absentee by mail, dont get plain-language explainers alongside their ballots.
Stottler said absentee voters will shoulder an additional responsibility to research the questions before returning their ballots. Absentee voters cant change their mind later if they didnt understand a referendum question.
There comes a little risk with absentees, being a no-excuse absentee state allows people to vote by absentee, she said. Im glad that they have that right, but with that right comes the responsibility of doing your homework.
She encouraged voters to make sure they understand the questions before casting their ballots.
There is a lot of information that is out there, Stottler said. Try to make sure that you understand before youre casting your ballot.
Stottler said the city plans to post the explainers on the its election information webpage once the explainers are available. Tollefson said the Type C explanations of the referendums also get posted on the countys website.
Sample ballots are available through website MyVote starting 20 days before an election.
The number of referendum questions varies across the area. Beloit and Edgerton voters, for example, are expected to see the three statewide questions, while some township communities with voters in the Janesville School District will also have the Janesville schools referendum.
Which ballot a voter receives depends on where they live, and which taxing districts they are part of.
Stottler said some wards contain voters from more than one school district. In Ward 28, for example, voters in the Janesville School District and Milton School District will receive different ballots depending on their district.
Despite the additional questions, she said the number of referendums does not significantly change the work required of election officials.
The citys voting machines may take slightly longer to process ballots with more questions, she said, but election officials still prepare for the election in essentially the same way.
Tollefson said she expects the process to take longer because of a big voter turnout because of the contested races of Governor, Senate, Assembly and Congressional seats.