Following failed Robin Vos recalls, rules for petition circulators could change in Wisconsin

After critics of Assembly Speaker Robin Vos tried twice to recall the powerful Republican, GOP lawmakers are pushing a bill that would tighten the rules for circulating recall petitions.

Under current law, any person who would be eligible to vote in Wisconsin if they lived in the state can circulate nominating papers or recall petitions. That’s anyone who is 18, a citizen and not otherwise disqualified.

Under the GOP bill, people circulating recall petitions would need to live in the Badger State themselves. The same restriction would also apply to people circulating nomination papers to get someone on the ballot.

Recall petitions are the first step toward a relatively rare process for removing an elected official from office. That’s the process that unsuccessfully targeted Vos, R-Rochester, twice in recent years.

Supporters of the GOP bill referred to that experience during public testimony before the Assembly elections committee Tuesday. Rep. Jim Piwowarczyk, R-Hubertus, who co-authored the plan, said many activists involved in the efforts to recall Vos were from out of state.

“These petitioners were not invested members of our communities,” Piwowarczyk said. “It was an orchestrated effort by outside activists to influence our state’s electoral outcomes.”

Piwowarczyk argued that the residency requirement amounted to closing a “loophole,” and noted that nonresidents could still nominate candidates for president and vice president.

“This legislation is not about making it harder to participate in democracy. It’s about ensuring that the voices that shape Wisconsin elections are those who live, work and vote here,” he said.

Vos is not among the bill’s Republican co-sponsors.

The speaker has faced years of criticism from outspoken allies of President Donald Trump after Vos declined to decertify the results of the 2020 election, saying the Legislature had no power to do so. He further angered some Trump supporters after he declined to pursue the impeachment of Wisconsin Elections Commission Administrator Meagan Wolfe.

In addition to attempting to recall him twice, the activists also mounted a primary challenge against Vos in 2022 — which he narrowly survived. A subsequent effort by local Republicans to challenge Vos last year failed after the lone GOP challenger dropped out.