One Wisconsin Now issues Recall Petitioners’ Rights
One Wisconsin Now today issued the following memorandum outlining a list of recall petitioners' and circulators' rights. Also included is a list of of activities considered to be illegal, such fraudulently destroying or defacing a recall petition.
CIRCULATING RECALL PETITION: To circulate a recall petition, you need to meet the qualifications of an elector in Wisconsin (citizen, 18 years or older, not a felon actively serving a sentence). To circulate a petition, however, you do not need to be a Wisconsin resident.
SIGNING RECALL PETITION: To sign a recall petition, you must be a qualified elector in Wisconsin and reside in the district of the official who is the subject of the petition. (For Governor/Lt. Governor, this means you need to reside in Wisconsin. For a petition to recall a state senator, you must reside in the district in which the senator was elected.)
- You do not need a government-issued photo identification to circulate or sign a recall petition (but you will need a photo ID to vote in the next election).
- You do not need to be a registered voter to circulate or sign a recall petition.
- As long as you are a qualified elector in Wisconsin, you can sign a recall petition whether or not you have ever voted in Wisconsin.
- You do not need to be a member of a political party to circulate or sign a recall petition.
- You can circulate or sign a recall petition even if you have outstanding debts or obligations, such as parking tickets, child support payments, or taxes.
- You can circulate or sign a recall petition even if you have already signed another recall petition (note, however, that only one signature per person will be counted).
- You cannot lose your government benefits for signing a recall petition.
- Recall petition signatures must be dated.
- The address given by the person signing must be the residential address (not PO Box).
DESTROYING RECALL PETITION: It is illegal to collect signatures in an effort to sabotage a recall effort.
- It is illegal to falsify any information in respect to a recall petition.
- It is illegal to deface a recall petition.
- It is illegal to destroy a recall petition.
Any of the above constitutes a Class I felony, which carries a maximum penalty of $10,000 and up to 3 ½ years in jail. Wis. Stat. §§ 12.13(3)(a); 12.60(1)(a).