MADISON – Monday, June 1, 2026 at 5 p.m. is the deadline for partisan candidates to file nomination papers to get on the ballot for the August 11 Partisan Primary and the November 3 General Election.

This advisory contains information about how to find out who is running in state, federal and local elections, where to find the documents, what they mean, and when the ballots will be finalized.

Below is a list of resources for members of the media to cover the deadline.

Necessary Paperwork

To get on the ballot, candidates for state office must file four documents with two different state agencies:

  • Campaign finance registration statement (ETHCF-1) with the Wisconsin Ethics Commission
  • Declaration of Candidacy form (EL-162) with the Wisconsin Elections Commission
  • Nomination Paper for Partisan Office (EL-168) with the Wisconsin Elections Commission
  • Statement of Economic Interests (SEI) with the Ethics Commission (due by 4:30 p.m. Thursday, June 4).

For more information about steps candidates must take to get on the ballot, the WEC publishes a checklist for local, state and federal candidates, which can be helpful for reporters. The checklists are available here: https://elections.wi.gov/candidates/getting-ballot. 

Who Filed?

To find out who has filed paperwork to get on the ballot for the fall election, visit the WEC’s “Elections” page: https://elections.wi.gov/elections. Scroll until you see “August 11, 2026 Partisan Primary and November 3, 2026 General Election” box. Then, select “Candidates Tracking By Office.pdf” and “Notification of Noncandidacy List.pdf”

The most helpful document for media will be the “Candidates Tracking By Office,” which also has the date and time it was updated in its title. The document is arranged in several columns: the candidate’s name, party, date the campaign registration statement was filed, date the declaration of candidacy was filed, date the statement of economic interests was filed, date the nomination papers were filed, number of valid signatures recommended for approval, and the pending, unofficial result of staff review.

The column “valid signatures” has the number of valid signatures recommended after WEC staff conduct reviews. If a candidate has filed petitions and the space for a number is still blank, it means staff are still reviewing the petitions. If the “Ballot Status” column says Pending, staff are still reviewing the petitions or is waiting for other paperwork such as the Statement of Economic Interest, SEI. If it says Approved, staff are recommending approval to the Elections Commission, which will make a final decision at its meeting on June 9, 2026 (More about that meeting below.) 

The WEC plans to update the candidate tracker after the 5 p.m. deadline tonight. Updated reports that the WEC posts after June 1 are unlikely to have changes to any of the fields except for the following: 

  • Accounting for deadline extensions for candidate contests where the incumbent failed to file a notification of noncandidacy and did not file ballot access materials
  • Accounting for statements of economic interests filed after June 1

Note: Decisions on ballot status are not official until the six WEC Commissioners meet on June 9th to vote to approve or deny candidates. 

How Many Signatures?

Candidates for statewide offices including U.S. Senator must file at least 2,000 valid signatures. Candidates for Representative in Congress must file at least 1,000 signatures. The minimum for State Senate is 400 and for State Assembly is 200.

Access to Candidates’ Paperwork

Members of the public and the media may immediately download a copy of candidates’ nomination papers and declarations of candidacy for free at the WEC’s Badger Voters website: https://badgervoters.wi.gov/. Note, you will need to create a free account to use the website. 

On the home page, select “Get Started.” Then, select “Nomination Data” and choose the election date (2026 General Election) and the candidate’s name from the drop-down menu. Afterwards, select “Create Nomination Data Request.”

  • Copies of the ETHCF-1 (campaign finance registration statement) are available on the Ethics Commission’s Campaign Finance Information System website at http://cfis.wi.gov.
  • Candidates’ Statements of Economic Interests are only available by filling out a request form on the Ethics Commission’s SEI website: https://sei.wi.gov.

Candidate Certification and Challenges 

The WEC staff review all the nomination papers and make an initial determination of whether the petition appears sufficient – meaning it contains enough valid signatures and meets other requirements. 

Any member of the public may challenge the sufficiency of a candidate’s nomination papers or declaration of candidacy by filing a verified complaint with the WEC by 5:00 p.m. on Thursday, June 4. Candidates whose nomination papers or declaration of candidacy are challenged may file responses within three days of the filing of the challenge. The challenger then gets an opportunity to file an optional rebuttal. For more information about the challenge process, visit: https://elections.wi.gov/resources/quick-reference-topics/filing-challenges-nomination-papers  

Staff will review any challenges, responses, and rebuttals and will make recommendations to the Commission for its meeting on June 9. At that meeting, the Commission will certify the list of candidates for the August 11 Partisan Primary.

Copies of any challenges will be posted on Badger Voters. When they become available, staff reports and recommendations on challenges will be posted on the agency website page for the June 9 Commission meeting here: https://elections.wi.gov/event/commission-meeting-june-9-2026. Because of the tight timeline to evaluate submissions and prepare reports, staff recommendations regarding challenges will likely not be available until the Commission meeting.

The Commission’s June 9 meeting will be held at 10 a.m. on Zoom. A candidate who disagrees with the Commission’s decision can appeal to circuit court for relief. 

Important Dates and Deadlines

  • June 1, 2026 – Deadline (5:00 p.m.) for candidates to file nomination papers, declarations of candidacy, and campaign registration statements for the General Election
  • June 4, 2026 – Deadlines (5:00 p.m.) for filing officers to accept verified challenges to nomination papers. Within three calendar days of the challenge being filed 
  • June 7, 2026 – Deadline for challenged candidate to file verified response and any correcting affidavits with the filing officer
  • June 9, 2026 – Commission Meeting for Ballot Access at 10:00 a.m. 

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ’s)

Maybe. 

Candidates have until Sunday, June 7 at 5:00 p.m. to file correcting affidavits to remedy any issues WEC staff flagged with the candidate’s papers, meaning the number of valid signatures WEC staff recommend for approval may fluctuate (likely increase) following Monday’s deadline for candidates who file correcting affidavits. 

Challenges filed against a candidate’s papers could reduce the number of valid signatures the Commission approves for a given candidate if the Commission agrees with the challenger. 

It is important to understand that the number of valid signatures listed for each candidate on the “Candidate Tracking By Office” documents are nothing more than staff recommendations for the number of signatures staff believe meet requirements. During its June 9 Ballot Access Meeting, the full Commission will consider all nomination papers, correcting affidavits, challenges, and staff recommendations to determine which candidates have submitted enough valid signatures, and the Commission will then approve those candidates for ballot access. 

Does the Wisconsin Elections Commission factor in supplemental signatures that a candidate may have turned in? 

If the number of valid signatures WEC staff recommend for a candidate is above the minimum threshold for that race upon reviewing the candidate’s initial filing staff do not perform review on any supplemental signatures the candidate may have filed with us. 

However, if the number of signatures WEC staff recommend is below the minimum threshold for the office, staff proceed to review supplemental signatures if a candidate filed them with the agency. If a candidate dropped below the threshold during staff review and did provide supplemental signatures, supplemental signatures reviewed by staff would be included in the total valid signatures number listed on the “Candidate Tracking By Office” document, although the documents would not specifically indicate whether the total does or does not include supplemental signatures. 

If staff approve a number of valid signatures for a candidate over the minimum threshold, but a challenge is filed that would reduce the number of valid signatures below the minimum threshold, staff then review supplemental signatures and present the number of valid signatures to the Commission for consideration. These supplemental signatures would not appear in the “Candidate Tracking By Office” report. 

How could the challenge process affect a candidate’s signatures? 

A successful verified challenge to a candidate’s nomination papers could significantly lower the number of signatures for a candidate. Or, alternatively, the Commission could end up rejecting the verified challenge and the candidate’s signature count could remain unchanged.

If a verified challenge has been filed against a candidate by the deadline, staff will review any supplemental signatures the candidate has filed with us and provide the number of recommended supplemental signatures to the Commission for consideration of the challenge.  

What happens if there’s a filing extension?

If an incumbent candidate for office fails to file a notification of noncandidacy for that office by the required deadline and also fails to file nomination papers for their currently held office by 5 p.m. on June 1, all candidates for that office may file nomination papers no later than 72 hours after the regular filing deadline. Wis. Stat. § 8.15(1).

The Commission is required by law to send a Type B notice (with the certified list of approved candidates) to county clerks no later than June 10 ahead of the partisan primary. Wis. Stat. § 10.06(1)(h). Whenever a 72-hour extension is necessary, the ballot access challenge deadlines are modified so that the challenge process can still be completed by that deadline. Wis. Admin. Code EL § 2.07(3)(j).