I'm actually in the middle of
writing an article on state court procedures for
election contests, so I can speak to this.
Wisconsin does not have a specific provision
for contesting judicial elections, so its general
election contest statute would apply. The
election contest provisions are embedded within
the recount provisions, at Wisc. Code sec. 9.01
(starting with subsection (6)).
Specifically, the losing candidate must file a
petition in the circuit court (Wisconsin's trial
court) within 5 days of the completion of a
recount. Because this is a statewide election,
the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court selects
which judicial district shall hear the case. The
circuit court Judge hears the case without a jury.
The losing party at the circuit court can
appeal to Wisconsin's 4th District Court of
Appeals within 30 days. The statute does not
state whether review is available in the Wisconsin
Supreme Court; I would imagine that the normal
procedures would apply.
The statute does provide that "This
section constitutes the exclusive judicial
remedy for testing the right to hold an elective
office as the result of an alleged irregularity,
defect or mistake committed during the voting or
canvassing process."
Every state is pretty different with respect to
contests of judicial elections. Some use the
legislature; others use the judiciary. West
Virginia uses a special court comprised of one
person that the contestee selects, a second person
that the contestant chooses, and a third person
that the governor appoints.
As to Adam's specific question, Idaho and
Missouri ask their Supreme Courts to resolve an
election contest for that same court, but my
research has not revealed instances when those
procedures have been invoked.
Josh
On Tue, Apr 5, 2011 at
11:41 PM, Bonin, Adam C.
<ABonin@cozen.com>
wrote:
Doomsday question: suppose these election
results are contested in the courts. Is the
entire Wisconsin Supreme Court conflicted out
of handling this? Has there ever been an
election dispute rising to the highest court
of a state involving election to that court?
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From: election-law-bounces@mailman.lls.edu
on behalf of Rick Hasen
Sent: Tue 4/5/2011 11:11 PM
To: Election Law
Subject: [EL] nailbiter in Wisconsin Supreme
Court race
Election Home <http://elections.todaystmj4.com/L01F001.htm>
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