WAUKESHA COUNTY, Wis. — When Waukesha County voters head to the polls, many are finding the two referendums on the ballot hard to understand.
We read the questions with Susan Schmidt who was on her way to vote in Waukesha. Schmidt has lived in the area for decades and said at least the first referendum was the most confusing one she has seen while others in the past have been more straightforward.
"I think if you don’t understand it and you don’t mark anything down, you're kind of wasting that part of the ballot. I think things could be more simply stated," Schmidt said.
Your vote directs whether the state legislature puts two constitutional amendments on a statewide ballot. The first would require the same or nearly the same process for administering elections and counting ballots across Wisconsin. The second referendum would ban any outside group from funding elections.
Waukesha County Board Supervisor Peter Wolff put together the resolution to get these referendums on the ballot. Wolff acknowledged he has been taking calls daily from people needing clarity.
"If you read it you almost have to read what the goal is at the end and then the procedure at the beginning," Wolff said.
He added that officials looked at the language carefully.
"Everything has to be in there in order to get the goal that we're trying to reach," said Wolff.
Susan believes voting is important and people should take the time to ask questions.
"If you don't understand it and you marked something down just to mark it down then you're not doing yourself any good or other people," Schmidt said.
The Waukesha County Clerk posted a notice on its website explaining the referendums. Those will also be at the polls.
The clerk's notice is on Waukesha County's website. The referendums are listed below:
Question 1: Should the Wisconsin Legislature prepare and place on the statewide ballot a Constitutional Amendment requiring that election administration, access to ballots, and counting of ballots be nearly uniform as practicable?
Question 2: Should the Wisconsin Legislature prepare and place on the statewide ballot a Constitutional Amendment prohibiting non-governmental entities and any individual other than election officials designated by law from funding, managing, or performing any task in election administration?