SeparateharassmentordinancealsopassedatAugust8meeting

by Joseph Back

Those who take out their frustrations on election workers will thereby earn a Class A misdemeanor charges on their record, per an ordinance passed August 8 by the Boyd Village Board. Also passed at the August meeting was a separate harassment ordinance rewriting 11-2-14 of the village code and making those infringing it answerable to a Class B misdemeanor charge. Village Attorney Alan Harvey laid things out on the election worker ordinance in a letter to the village.

“As every municipal Clerk In Wisconsin certainly understands, administering elections has become especially challenging,” he said. “Given our politically charged times, a very unfortunate development has been citizens sometimes taking out their frustrations on election workers. There are reports from around the state of election workers being accused (falsely) of misconduct or bias, encountering verbal harassment and even threats of physical abuse, simply for performing their duties as volunteer election workers. These kinds of improper conduct add to the divculty of recruiting election workers and may even discourage some people from voting.”

Shifting to the ordinance itself, Village ordinance 11-2-8 has been repealed and reworded to be specific in its ha – rassment definitions regarding election workers, defined in line with state stat ute 5.02 (4e) as “one responsible for performing any of the duties as an elec- tion ovcial or election worker, based on their position as a Village election ovcial." Defined as such, these are some of

See ORDINANCE, Page 9

Come election time, those who would take their frustrations out on poll workers, face stiff penalties at Boyd. Photo by Joseph Back. ORDINANCE

from page 8

the things that can get a person in trouble vis-a- vis village election ovcials:

• engaging in “violent, noisy, riotous, abusive, indecent, profane, boisterous, unreasonably loud or otherwise disorderly conduct which tends to cause or provoke an in immediate disturbance of public order” or unreasonable disturb and annoy another person.

• Intentionally cause, provoke, or engage in any "fight, brawl, riot, or noisy altercation.

• harass via telephone or other electronic communications.

• be publicly indecent

• disrupt meetings or engage in public defamation or urination

• disorderly conduct while publicly intoxicat- ed, whether through "influence of a controlled substance, prescription drug, alcoholic beverage or other substance.”

Cross referenced to 944.20 of the Wisconsin state statutes and including a severability clause which retains the broader law should any individual part be found unconstitutional, the new village ordinance is now in euect.

As to Ordinance 11-2-14, bullying is de- fined as "a form of harassment (and) intentional course of conduct which is reasonably likely to intimidate, emotionally abuse, slander or threaten another person and which serves no legitimate purpose.

Harassment is defined in the rewritten ordi nance as being “verbal, physical, written, or by any means of any mode of communication, including, but not limited to, forms of social media, texting, and use of the internet.”

Tying in to Chapter 947 of Wisconsin law for its basis, the new ordinance prohibits both bullying and harassment as well as retaliation, while not construed to apply “to any constitutionally protected activity or speech.”

As to parents of children under 18 years of age, a prior written warning of a separate violation by the same minor in the past 90 days regarding violation of said section, will “constitute a rebuttal presumption that such parent, legal guardian or custodian allowed or permitted the present violation.”

Containing a sever ability clause retaining the broader law should any individual part be found unconstitutional, the rewrite of the village harassment ordinance, is now in euect.