Madison — On Wednesday, the Wisconsin Supreme Court refused to clarify legislative district boundary lines for a recall election by supporters of former President Donald Trump targeting the Republican Assembly speaker.
The recall effort Speaker Robin Vos appears to lack necessary signatures to call an election. However, the Wisconsin Elections Commission had urged the Supreme Court to clarify what maps should be used for recall or special elections before November, when fresh maps take effect.
The court unanimously underlined that in December it had declared the legislative maps unlawful and forbade their use. Democratic Gov. Tony Evers signed maps he submitted for the Republican-controlled Legislature in February.
These maps take effect in November. The court's judgment left open the topic of pre-November election maps. “We decline to further clarify or amend the opinion and order,” the court stated of its December verdict. The Wisconsin Elections Commission, not the Supreme Court, administers elections, the court said.
The commission must decide by April 11 if the recall petition has enough signatures to hold an election. You can challenge its decision in court. Riley Vetterkind, commission spokesperson, did not address the court ruling. After a brief investigation, the panel found insufficient signatures from Vos' district residents. In November, new legislative maps change Vos' district lines.
Vos faces recall because he refuses to impeach the state's chief elections officer or decertify President Joe Biden's 2020 Wisconsin victory. Trump accused Vos of covering up election corruption, and his followers failed a primary challenge in 2022 and are now trying to force a recall election.
Vos, who disputed hundreds of signatures and said the attempt failed regardless of district lines, called his opponents “whack jobs and morons.” Last Monday, recall organizers began a second recall effort after realizing they might not get enough signatures.
Vos is the GOP-led Legislature's strongest Republican. He became Assembly speaker in 2004 and has held the post since 2013.
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