Kenosha County Clerk Regi Waligora is highlighting a recent change to state law, regarding who
is eligible to circulate nomination papers on behalf of candidates for office.
This comes as the period for fall partisan election candidates to circulate petitions begins this
Wednesday, April 15.
Act 126, which was signed into law last month, amends statutes to require a circulator of
nomination papers for all offices other than U.S. president to be a “qualified elector of the state.”
Previously, circulators could be residents of other states who would have otherwise been eligible
to vote in Wisconsin if they lived in the state.
“Under the new law, circulators must be residents of Wisconsin for voting purposes,” Waligora
said. “With this fall’s petition-circulating period about to begin, I’m working to make sure
candidates and political parties are aware of the change, so that papers collected by out-of-state
circulators won’t have to be disqualified.”
A person is eligible to vote in Wisconsin if they are a U.S. citizen, at least 18 years of age, have
resided at an address within the state for at least 28 days, and are not currently serving a felony
conviction, including incarceration, parole, probation, or extended supervision.
The new law also applies to circulators of recall petitions, Waligora said.
Waligora noted that updated forms that note the new requirement are now available for
candidates to download from her office’s website.