WISCONSIN — Wisconsin residents voted in favor of a pair of referendum questions that would change how judges determine cash bail for people charged with violent crimes in Wisconsin, TMJ4 News projects.
State Referendum 2: Cash Bail Before Conviction passed with 76 percent of the vote, according to TMJ4 election results.
Watch TMJ4 News live election results for races across Wisconsin on April 4 here.
Below are the two lengthy statewide referendum questions. The proposed constitutional amendments would give judges more factors to consider when setting bail for people charged with violent crimes.
The questions did prompt some concerns from local early voters, as TMJ4's Ben Jordan previously reported.
An election inspector at a Milwaukee early voting site previously told TMJ4 News that she is not allowed to explain what the questions mean to voters.
Current Wisconsin law says judges and court commissioners can only determine cash bail to ensure the defendant returns to court.
Republican Rep. Cindi Duchow of Delafield led the effort to get the questions on the ballot because she believes the changes would prevent people charged with violent crimes from reoffending while awaiting trial.
“In the simplest terms, what do these questions truly mean?” TMJ4 reporter Ben Jordan asked ahead of the April 4 election.
"This means we change the definition of serious harm and that a judge can look back at your past criminal convictions,” Rep. Duchow replied then. “Those are the two most important things."
Watch Ben Jordan's reporting from before the April 4 election:
Rep. Duchow says attorneys who wrote the questions had to include the specific section of the Wisconsin Constitution the referendum would change.
"I feel badly that they are confusing, but I think we're still going to get it across the finish line,” she said.
If the referendums pass, the state’s constitution will be amended to become state law.
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