Election chief discusses recalls with senators

MADISON, Wis. (AP) — The director of Wisconsin’s election oversight board tells state senators that if recall efforts are launched against them after May, the incumbent will likely have to run in newly drawn legislative districts.

But Government Accountability Board director Kevin Kennedy says recall efforts started before then will be determined based on the old boundaries.

Kennedy outlined the interaction of recall elections and newly drawn legislative districts under redistricting at a hearing Wednesday before the Senate’s elections committee.

The key date is Nov. 6, 2012. That is when the new boundaries take effect for purposes of elections. It takes several months for the recall process, so Kennedy says any effort started in May or later would likely put the election past the Nov. 6 date and therefore be in the new district.