The Wisconsin Elections Commission today ruled those seeking to recall Assembly Speaker Robin Vos were short of the signatures needed to trigger an election in the 63rd AD he was elected to two years ago.
The commission voted 4-2 to reject the recall petition after ruling several hundred signatures were collected after the deadline in state law.
Recall organizers had 60 days to collect 6,850 valid signatures. That period ended May 26, the Sunday of Memorial Day weekend. Because it fell on a weekend with a holiday that following Monday, the petitions weren’t due to the Elections Commission until May 28.
Agency staff ruled recall organizers turned in 6,866 valid signatures, including more than 300 collected May 27 and May 28. Staff believed they were valid because they were collected before the filing deadline. But Vos challenged them, arguing the cutoff was May 26.
The commission sided with Vos as Carrie Riepl, a Dem appointee, joined three GOP appointees in rejecting the petitions.
In issuing the decision, the commission avoided ruling on a second challenge Vos lodged, arguing he can’t be recalled from the 63rd AD that he was elected to in 2022.
The state Supreme Court threw out that map in December as unconstitutional and barred the use of those lines going forward. In February, new maps were put in place that moved Vos to the 33rd AD, but those lines don’t take effect until the fall election.
The Supreme Court earlier this year declined a request from the agency to clarify which map should be used for recall and special elections ahead of this fall.
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