MADISON – Conservatives are challenging a Republican-authored law passed in response to a recall election against Assembly Speaker Robin Vos that requires anyone gathering signatures for a state or local candidate to be a Wisconsin resident.
The conservative legal firm Wisconsin Institute for Law and Liberty filed a lawsuit Wednesday in Waukesha Circuit Court on behalf of the conservative Americans for Citizen Voting political action committee over the new law, which was signed by Democratic Gov. Tony Evers in March. It names members of the Wisconsin Elections Commission as defendants.
Republican lawmakers introduced the measure in the wake of a state investigation into organizers of a recall election against Vos that revealed more than a dozen people recruited to circulate petitions to force the recall had submitted phony signatures or listed fake addresses. Many of them lived out of state.
Attorneys for the Americans for Citizen Voting PAC argue the law violates the First Amendment rights of the group and asked a Waukesha County judge to block the new requirements.
“These restrictions shrink the pool of available circulators for Wisconsin candidates, prevent candidates from associating with out-of-state supporters, and thus limit the dissemination of political messages,” attorneys wrote.
“For (the PAC), this means a limited pool of circulators with which it can associate to advance its goals and support candidates in furtherance of its mission.”
The PAC’s attorneys also argued the law should be stuck down because a state law that required signature gatherers to live in their candidate’s district was deemed unconstitutional by a federal judge in 2003.
A spokeswoman for the elections commission did not immediately respond to a request for comment. An aide to bill author Rep. Jim Piwowarczyk, R-Hubertus, also did not immediately have a reaction to the lawsuit.
The Virginia-based Americans for Citizen Voting indicates on its website that it spent heavily in support of passing a constitutional amendment in Wisconsin that limited voting to U.S. citizens. Voters approved the amendment in November 2024.
The group has received hundreds of thousands in funding from top GOP funders, including the Restoration PAC, which is funded nearly exclusively by megadonor Richard Uihlein.
Molly Beck can be reached at molly.beck@jrn.com.
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Wisconsin GOP proposed a signature law. Conservatives are suing over it.
Reporting by Molly Beck, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel / Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
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