DNE
STATE OF WISCONSIN
DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE
J.B. VAN HOLLEN
ATTORNEY GENERAL
Kevin M. St. John
Deputy Attorney General
Steven P. Means
Executive Assistant
114 East, State Capitol
P.O. Box 7857
Madison, WI 53707-7857
608/266-1221
TTY 1-800-947-3529
Date November 3, 2011 OAG—4—11 ReStartDirector and General Counsel Government Accountability Board
212 East Washington Avenue, 3rd Floor
Madison, WI 53707
¶ 1. You have requested an opinion regarding the scope of a recall election involving the office of the governor. Specifically, you ask whether, in a recall election for governor, there must be an election of governor and lieutenant governor jointly under article V, section 3 of the Wisconsin Constitution, regardless of whether there has been a recall petition for the lieutenant governor under article XIII, section 12 of the Wisconsin Constitution. SHORT ANSWER
¶ 2. I conclude that article XIII, section 12 of the Wisconsin Constitution requires a separate petition for the recall of each individual incumbent elective officer. A petition for the recall of an incumbent governor under article XIII, section 12(1) requires the filing officer to call a recall election for that incumbent’s office, provided that the terms of article XIII, section 12 have been met. A recall election of a lieutenant governor shall be called only if a petition for recall is filed for that incumbent elected officer. In such a case, voters shall vote separately for that office. ANALYSIS
¶ 3. Article XIII, section 12 describes the procedure for the recall of “any incumbent elective officer.” Several of its requirements are structured around a singular, individual officer being recalled. A petition for recall must specify the individual officer who is sought to be recalled, permitting electors to petition for the recall of “any incumbent elective officer.” Wis. Const. art. XIII, § 12. Electors seeking recall must file a petition “demanding the recall of the incumbent.” Id. A recall petition may be offered for filing only after the expiration of the first year of the particular officer’s term. Id. The incumbent officer is an automatic candidate in the recall election unless the incumbent officer affirmatively declines. Wis. Const. art. XIII, § 12(4). The number of recall elections is limited for each individual officer: if the elected officer prevails in one recall election, no further petition shall be filed against the officer for the remainder of the term for which the officer was elected. Wis. Const. art. XIII, § 12(6).
¶ 4. The focus of article XIII, section 12 on the individual officer requires that the Government Accountability Board call a recall election only of the officer named in the petition. A petition for the recall of the governor must follow the same rule. Article XIII expressly applies to “any incumbent elective officer” and provides no exception under which a petition for recall of the governor would be treated as requiring a joint recall election of the governor and lieutenant governor. Calling a joint recall election of the two officers would contravene the plain language of article XIII, section 12 and would force electors to vote for the recall of two candidates or none, a result that would deny electors the opportunity to petition for the recall of “any incumbent elective officer” as the Constitution requires.
¶ 5. This conclusion also follows from the language in article XIII indicating that a petition to recall an officer results in only one winning candidate. Under article XIII, section 12(2), a petition compliant with the requirements of section 12(1) causes the filing officer to call a recall election for a certain date. The resulting winner of that recall election is described in the singular: “The person who receives the highest number of votes in the recall election shall be elected for the remainder of the term.” Wis. Const. art. XIII, § 12(5).
¶ 6. Article XIII, section 12 thus contemplates a sequence of events through which a petition for recall results in a single elected candidate. Calling a joint recall election based on the filing of a petition to recall the governor would be inconsistent with that sequence. It would cause a petition to recall the governor to lead to recall elections for two officers and would result in the election of two winning candidates. Article XIII, section 12 prohibits the recall election of multiple candidates based on the filing of a petition for the recall of only one officer.
¶ 7. As you note, in a general election, the governor and lieutenant governor are elected jointly and for the same term. Wis. Const. art. V, §§ 1, 3. You ask whether these provisions require that, following the filing of a petition to recall the governor, the Board must call a joint recall election of both the governor and lieutenant governor. I conclude that the cited article V provisions are inapplicable to a recall election.
¶ 8. Article V, section 1 provides that the governor and lieutenant governor “shall be elected at the same time and for the same term.” Article V, section 3 provides more specifically:
Election. SECTION 3. The governor and lieutenant governor shall be elected by the qualified electors of the state at the times and places of choosing members of the legislature. They shall be chosen jointly by the casting by each voter of a single vote applicable to both offices beginning with the general election in 1970.
The phrase “times and places of choosing members of the legislature” refers to the general election. Article IV, section 4 provides that members of the assembly shall be chosen biennially “on the Tuesday succeeding the first Monday of November[.]” Article IV, section 5 provides that senators shall be elected “at the same time and in the same manner as members of the assembly[.]” Article V, section 3 thus applies to those gubernatorial elections that coincide with the partisan general elections at which members of the legislature are elected.
¶ 9. A recall election, in contrast, is scheduled “for the Tuesday of the 6th week after the date of filing the petition or, if that Tuesday is a legal holiday, on the first day after that Tuesday which is not a legal holiday.” Wis. Const. art. XIII, § 12(2). A recall election is not required to coincide with any legislative election. The different scheduling rules for the two procedures illustrate that article V, section 3 does not apply to a recall election under article XIII, section 12.
