Wisconsin Briefs from the Legislative Reference Bureau Brief 12−1 April 2012 INITIATIVE, REFERENDUM, AND RECALL IN WISCONSIN INTRODUCTION government bodies) may submit petitions This brief summarizes the laws relating to proposing legislation. the initiative, referendum, and recall in While Section 9.20, Wisconsin Statutes, is Wisconsin. titled “Direct legislation,” the initiative Unlike many states, Wisconsin does not process in Wisconsin cities and villages is have a statewide initiative process, but actually an indirect form. A direct initiative residents of cities and villages may initiate process enables a measure to be placed directly legislation by petition. In addition, statewide on the ballot if a sufficient number of and local referenda are required in numerous signatures are gathered on petitions, thus circumstances. The state legislature or any enabling citizens to bypass the legislative city, village, or county may also enact a law or body completely and avoid any threat of an ordinance contingent upon approval at a executive veto. referendum. The state legislature or these local In contrast, under the indirect initiative governing bodies may, at their discretion, process available to residents of Wisconsin submit questions to the voters in the form of cities and villages, electors may propose, via advisory referenda. petition, that the city common council or Citizens may use the recall process to village board pass a desired ordinance or remove almost any statewide or local resolution without amendment. In addition, s. government elective official. As with an 66.0101 (6) permits electors to initiate the initiative, the recall process is started via enactment, amendment, or repeal of city or petition. If enough valid signatures are village charter ordinances, using the gathered, then an election is held to decide procedures provided in s. 9.20. In either case, whether an elective official will remain in if the council or board fails to enact the office or if not, who will replace the official for measure within 30 days, the question appears the remainder of the term. on a referendum ballot for the voters to decide the issue. 1. INITIATIVE Petition Requirements. The initiative The American system of government is process begins with the circulation of based on representative democracy, in which petitions. Once begun, proponents have 60 the people elect individuals to make the laws days to gather a number of valid signatures of under which we live. In contrast, the initiative qualified city or village electors (generally, is an example of direct democracy, in which the legal residents of voting age who are U.S. people may petition to require that a proposed citizens) equal to at least 15% of the votes cast law or resolution be put to a vote in a for governor in that municipality at the last referendum election. gubernatorial election. Initiative in Cities and Villages. 1989 Wisconsin Act 192 established a Wisconsin law does not provide for a uniform petition format for all referenda, statewide initiative process. However, including city and village initiatives. Form residents of cities and villages (but not GAB-172, “Petition for Direct Legislation,” is counties, towns, school districts, or other local available on the Wisconsin Government Prepared by Dan Ritsche, Senior Legislative Analyst Reference Desk: (608) 266-0341 Web Site: www.legis.wisconsin.gov/lrb − 2 − LRB−12−WB−1 Accountability Board’s (GAB) Web site at: be notified if there are problems with the http://gab.wi.gov/forms/gab−172. petitions. Section 8.40 requires that the word The GAB has prescribed rules regarding “PETITION” must appear in boldface print at the standards by which election officials and the top of each separate petition sheet. Those governing bodies must judge the validity of signing the petition must indicate their petitions (Chapter GAB 2, Wisconsin municipality of residence for voting purposes, Administrative Code, titled “Elections Related their street address, and the date on which they Petitions”). Clerks must list any signed. insufficiencies they find in a signed and dated A certification containing the signature certificate attached to the petition, and the and address of the person who circulated the designated individual is notified and given 10 petition must appear at the bottom of each days to correct any problems. When petition page. It must state that: everything is in order, the clerk immediately S The petition circulator personally obtained forwards the proposal and the verified each of the signatures. petitions to the city council or village board. S The circulator knows that each person who The city council or village board has 30 signed is a qualified elector of the days from receipt of the petition to either pass municipality. the proposal in unaltered form or put it on the S Each signer did so with full knowledge of ballot at the next spring or general election, if the content and purpose of the petition. it is more than six weeks after the expiration of S The circulator knows that each signer the 30-day period. If the next election indicated the correct residence address. scheduled is in less than six weeks, the S Each signer signed on the date indicated. referendum is delayed until the next spring or general election, unless the council or board S The circulator is a qualified elector of this state, or if not a qualified elector of this state, agrees by a three-fourths vote of the entire that the circulator is a U.S. citizen at least 18 elected membership of the body to order a years of age who, if he or she were a resident special election for purposes of voting on the of this state, would not be disqualified from proposal. (No more than one such special voting. election may be held in any six-month period.) S The circulator is aware that the penalties for Voting on the Referendum. It is not submitting a petition with a false necessary that the full wording of the certification are a fine of up to $10,000 or proposed ordinance or resolution be printed imprisonment not to exceed three years and on the ballot. If it is not, a concise statement of six months, or both. the nature of the proposal must appear. The Although it is not required by law, the wording of the ballot question must permit the GAB recommends that the complete text of the voter to clearly indicate approval or rejection proposal (or a summary of it) be printed on or by a straightforward “yes” or “no” vote. If the attached to each petition page. majority of those voting in the referendum Initiative Timetable. If enough favor the ordinance or resolution, it takes effect signatures are gathered in the 60-day period, on the date of its official publication, which the petitions are filed with the municipal clerk. must occur within 10 days after the election. Within 15 days after receipt of the petitions, the Repeals or Amendments to an Initiative. clerk rules on their sufficiency, including City legislation adopted via initiative cannot verifying that the correct number of signatures be vetoed by the mayor, and the city council or has been obtained and whether the proposal village board may not repeal or amend the law has been properly worded. An individual within two years of its adoption. Initiated must be designated in writing as the person to legislation may, however, be repealed or LRB−12−WB−1 − 3 − amended anytime by a subsequent initiative submitting petitions signed by two-fifths of action. the legal electors of the county, in which case Limitations on Use of Municipal the county board must submit the question to Initiatives. A series of decisions by the the electors. [s. 59.05] Residents of adjoining Wisconsin Supreme Court have dealt with counties may similarly require an election on direct legislation. In particular, Landt v. the consolidation of 2 or more counties. [s. Wisconsin Dells, 30 Wis. 2d 470 (1966); Heider v. 59.08] Residents in counties having a Wauwatosa, 37 Wis. 2d 466 (1967); State ex rel. population of less than 500,000 may use the s. Althouse v. Madison, 79 Wis. 2d 97 (1977); and 9.20 initiative process to create or abolish the Mount Horeb Community Alert v. Village Board of office of elected county executive. [s. 59.17 (1)] Mt. Horeb, 263 Wis. 2d 544 (2003) have set limits Residents of an unincorporated area seeking on the use of this procedure. The court has annexation to an adjacent city or village may ruled that: initiate the action via petition and ratify it in a S Voters may exercise only such legislative referendum. [ss. 66.0203 and 66.0211] An powers as are conferred upon the city annexation of land to a city or village may be council or village board by the Wisconsin initiated by electors and property holders and Constitution or state statutes. ratified in a referendum. [s. 66.0217] S Direct legislation must relate to new History. The concept of direct democracy, legislation. It cannot be designed to amend in which the people make the laws which or repeal existing legislation that has been govern them, has ancient roots, going back at properly enacted by a city council or village least to the assemblies in Athens and the board. (This is not necessarily an absolute plebiscites in Rome. In the United States, prohibition because the supreme court has initiatives were promoted by the Populists and not specifically addressed the question of Progressives in the late 1800s and early 1900s incidental partial repeal or amendment that to facilitate government reform by bypassing may occur in the process of creating state legislatures. About half the states now affirmative legislation on a new subject.) have some form of a statewide initiative and S Direct legislation may not be used to require referendum process, with most states also the city council or village board to enact having provisions for initiatives at the local legislation that clearly conflicts with a prior government level.