Gathering Valid Nomination Signatures

The Signature Requirement

To appear on the ballot for a city-wide office such as mayor, a candidate must file nomination papers carrying enough valid signatures from city electors. For a city-wide office in a second- or third-class city, the law requires not less than 200 nor more than 400 valid signatures of city electors ¹. Stoughton is a third-class city, so the mayoral minimum is 200 valid signatures and the ceiling is 400.

Two numbers matter here. The floor of 200 is the bar you must clear; the ceiling of 400 is the most that will be counted, so there is no benefit to filing far past it. The catch is that the count that decides ballot access is the number of valid signatures, not the number of lines filled. Signatures are reviewed after filing, and any that fail the rules are struck.

Collect a Cushion

Because some signatures are invalidated on review, never stop at exactly 200. A signature can be struck for a bad address, a missing date, a duplicate, or simple illegibility, and you cannot fix those problems after the filing deadline. Plan to collect a comfortable cushion above the minimum — aiming for roughly 300 or more is a sensible target that keeps you safely over 200 even after a meaningful share are disqualified, while staying under the 400 ceiling. Treat the minimum as a number you must exceed, not one you can hope to hit exactly.

Who May Sign and What Each Line Needs

Only qualified electors of the city may sign your nomination papers ². A signer must be eligible to sign for this office — that is, a Stoughton city elector. A signature from someone who lives outside the city does not count, no matter how supportive that person is.

Each signature line should be complete and legible. Make sure every signer provides:

• their printed name,
• their signature,
• their full residential street address — no P.O. boxes,
• their municipality, and
• the date of signing ².

The residential address and the date are the details most often missed, and both are required. A line without a usable city address or without a date is vulnerable to being struck.

The Circulator’s Role

Every nomination paper is circulated by a person who must complete a certification on each page ². The circulator attests to having personally witnessed the signatures collected on that paper. Because the certification covers the whole page, errors propagate: a defective certification can put every signature on that sheet at risk. Assign clear responsibility for each paper, have the circulator fill in and sign the certification completely, and confirm the page is in order before it leaves the circulator’s hands.

Common Reasons Signatures Get Struck

Most invalid signatures fall into a short list of avoidable problems. A signature can be struck if it is illegible, undated, lacks a valid city address, or is a duplicate of a signature already counted. Out-of-city addresses and P.O. boxes are likewise disqualifying because only qualified city electors may sign and a residential address is required.

To avoid these losses:

• Watch each signer fill in a full residential street address — politely decline P.O. boxes.
• Confirm the date is written on every line before the signer walks away.
• Keep a running list of who has already signed to prevent duplicates.
• Ask anyone whose handwriting is hard to read to print clearly.
• Double-check each completed page the same day it is circulated.

Practical Tactics for a Five-Week Winter Window

The collection period is short and cold, so plan around it. Papers may not circulate before December 1, and they must be filed by 5:00 p.m. on the first Tuesday in January ¹. That leaves roughly five weeks, much of it during the holidays.

Concentrate effort where electors gather. Target high-traffic spots, community events, and indoor venues, and supplement with organized door-knocking on a route through city neighborhoods. Build in time to review every page as it comes back, because a flaw caught the same day can often be cured by re-collecting the signature while there is still time. Do not wait until the deadline: filing early gives you a margin if you need to gather a few more lines, and it avoids the risk of a last-day problem with no time to recover.

Confirm the Details Officially

Use the official EL-169 nomination paper form for all signatures ², and respect the no-circulation-before-December-1 rule and the January filing deadline ¹. Requirements and counts can carry local nuance, so confirm the exact signature number and the current rules with the City Clerk or the Wisconsin Elections Commission before you begin. This lesson is educational and is not legal advice.