Elections FAQ 7

By when must a candidate for an elective village or city office be a resident of the municipality or district from which elected in order to be eligible for office?

In order to be eligible for an elective village office a person must reside in the village for at least 28 consecutive days before the election. Wis. Stat. secs. 61.19 and 6.02(1). This means that a person may file nomination papers as a candidate for the office of village trustee or other village office even if that person is not a resident elector of the village, since there is no residency requirement for merely filing nomination papers under Wis. Stat. sec. 8.10, Stats. Likewise, there is no requirement that a person nominated by a village caucus under Wis. Stat. sec. 8.05 be a resident elector of the village.

Similarly, in order to be eligible for an elective city office a person must be a resident elector of the city and, if the office is alderperson, a resident of the aldermanic district, at least 28 days before the election. Wis. Stat. secs. 62.09(2)(a) and 6.02(1). Thus, a person may file nomination papers as a candidate for the office of alderperson even if that person does not currently reside in the aldermanic district which he or she seeks to represent as long as he or she will be a resident of the district within 28 days of the election date.

Note that city and village law differs from county law on this issue. Under Wis. Stat. sec. 59.20(1), a person must be a resident elector of the county in order to be able to file nomination papers as a candidate for county elective office.