The Three Filings That Put You on the Ballot

One office, one deadline, one filing officer

The previous lesson covered when the spring election happens and the single deadline that controls everything: 5:00 p.m. on the first Tuesday in January for a spring election. This lesson covers what you actually hand in by that moment. For a city office such as mayor, every ballot-access document goes to one person — the municipal filing officer, which for a city is the City Clerk (the Stoughton City Clerk) ¹. Not the county, not the state: the Clerk. Three required filings must all be complete and in the Clerk’s hands by the deadline. Treat the list below as a checklist, not a menu — missing any one of them keeps your name off the ballot.

The three required filings

1. Campaign Finance Registration Statement — Form CF-1L. This registers your campaign committee with the filing officer and must be filed before you raise or spend a single dollar ². It is the first thing you do, because the moment you accept a contribution or pay an expense without a registration on file, you are out of compliance. The CF-1L establishes who your campaign is, who its treasurer is, and where its money lives, so that later finance reports have a registration to attach to.

2. Declaration of Candidacy — Form EL-162. This is your formal, signed statement that you are a candidate for the office of mayor ³. It is how the Clerk knows which office you are seeking and that you intend to qualify for it. It is a declaration about you and the office, separate from the petition signatures that follow.

3. Nomination Papers — Form EL-169. These are the petition pages your supporters sign to qualify you for the ballot ³. You must collect the required number of valid signatures and file the papers by the deadline; the detailed rules — who may sign, how many signatures, what makes a signature valid — are the subject of the next lesson. For now, know that the signatures are the third non-negotiable piece, and that they take the most calendar time to gather.

A possible fourth: the Statement of Economic Interests

In addition to the three filings above, a Statement of Economic Interests may be required if the city has adopted a local ethics code ². This is not universal — it depends on local ordinance — so do not assume it applies and do not assume it does not. Ask the Clerk directly whether Stoughton requires one for a mayoral candidate, and if so, when and on what form ¹. Confirming this early avoids a last-minute surprise at the deadline.

Do this, in this order

Sequence matters because one filing has to come before any money moves:

1. File the CF-1L first, before you fundraise or spend anything ². Get this on file the moment you decide to run.
2. Prepare your EL-162 declaration of candidacy so it is ready to file ³.
3. Circulate your EL-169 nomination papers to gather valid signatures ³ — this is the long pole, so start as soon as papers may circulate.
4. File all three with the City Clerk by the 5:00 p.m. deadline, and confirm whether a Statement of Economic Interests is also due ¹.

Get the official forms and confirm with the Clerk

Form names and numbers are stable, but contents and instructions change between cycles, so always work from the current official versions. Get the EL-162 declaration and EL-169 nomination papers from the Wisconsin Elections Commission ³, and the CF-1L registration statement from the Wisconsin Ethics Commission ². Then confirm every detail — the exact deadline, the required signature count, whether a Statement of Economic Interests applies, and where and how to submit — with the Stoughton City Clerk, your filing officer for this race ¹. This lesson lists what to file; the next lesson explains how the EL-169 signature requirement works in detail. Nothing here is legal advice — when in doubt, ask the Clerk and read the official instructions that come with each form.