The Wisconsin Senate passed a batch of election bills Tuesday, including a proposal to allow political candidates to withdraw from the ballot while still alive.
The candidate withdrawal bill, AB 35, was inspired by Robert F. Kennedy’s inability to remove himself from ballots in Wisconsin even after he ended his presidential campaign to support President Donald Trump’s re-election. When Kennedy pushed to erase his name from ballots in Wisconsin as well as Michigan, election officials refused, and eventually the Supreme Court declined to order the removal.
Previously, withdrawals from the ballot in Wisconsin have only been permitted upon death, according to the state’s ballot procedures. (RELATED: Democrats Target Wisconsin’s Steil and Van Orden in National Redistricting Wars)
AB 35 allows those who have filed nomination papers for political office in the state to withdraw their candidacy by “submitting a sworn statement before specific deadlines,” the bill’s summary explains. National and statewide office candidates are required to pay a $1000 fee for withdrawal, and other candidates must pay a $250 fee. The Elections Commission must verify the authenticity of the candidates’ sworn statements.
The bill passed 19-14, and now heads to Governor Tony Evers. Only one Democratic Senator, Kristin Dassler-Alfheim, D-Appleton, voted in favor of the legislation. Its partisan support raises the question as to whether Evers will sign it into law.
Sen. Mark Spreitzer, D-Beloit, said he generally supports the proposal, but thinks its lack of “a mechanism for a party to replace their primary winner on the general election ballot” if he or she drops out is problematic, WisPolitics-State Affairs reported.
He noted that such a circumstance would lead to a party’s absence of a candidate on the general election ballot, even if that party has ample support in the district.
“I don’t think that’s what anyone intends, but that is the unintended consequence this bill creates,” Spreitzer said. (RELATED: Class Action Lawsuit Filed in Aftermath of Madison Discarding Nearly 200 Ballots)
Also among the recently passed election bills is AB 149, which would allow party chairs to nominate electors if the party lacks incumbent state officials or candidates for state office or the legislature.
SB 270, which would allow the appeal of a Wisconsin Elections Commission decision about a complaint, was also passed in a voice vote.
