Village trustees and village presidents in Wisconsin are elected at the spring election, which falls on Tuesday, April 6, 2027. How you get onto that ballot depends on how your village nominates candidates. In a village that uses nomination papers, you register your campaign, collect 20 to 100 signatures starting December 1, 2026, and file your papers, a Declaration of Candidacy and your campaign registration statement with the village clerk by 5 p.m. on Tuesday, January 5, 2027. In a village that nominates by caucus, voters choose the nominees at a caucus held between January 2 and January 21, 2027, and the nominees then file their paperwork within five days of being notified.
This guide walks through both paths. Dates and rules come from Wisconsin statutes and the Wisconsin Elections Commission (WEC) 2027 ballot access checklists. Confirm anything specific to your village with your village clerk, who is the filing officer for village offices.
For the full picture of running for any local office in the state, start with our guide to running for local office in Wisconsin.
Step 1: Find out how your village nominates candidates
Under Wisconsin law, a village uses nomination papers only if the village board decided to use them by December 1 before the election, or if a primary has been provided for under the village primary statute. Otherwise, the village nominates its candidates by caucus (Wis. Stat. 8.05(4)(a)).
Ask the clerk three things:
- Does the village nominate by nomination papers or by caucus for the April 6, 2027 election?
- Which seats are on the ballot this spring, and is the village president's seat among them?
- If the village uses a caucus, what date has the board set for it?
Step 2: Confirm you qualify
Every candidate files a Declaration of Candidacy (WEC form EL-162), sworn before an officer authorized to administer oaths, such as a notary. In it you state the name you want on the ballot and that you meet the age, citizenship, residency and voting qualifications for the office. You also state that you have not been convicted of a misdemeanor designated as a violation of the public trust or of a felony for which you have not been pardoned, and you give your municipality of residence and street address (Wis. Stat. 8.21). If any of this information changes after you file, you must amend the declaration.
Step 3: Register your campaign before you raise or spend
Wisconsin requires a campaign registration statement (form CF-1) from every candidate, and the threshold is $0. You become a candidate when you file nomination papers, are nominated by caucus, receive a contribution, or spend money to seek office. Register as soon as practicable after that, and before you file papers or raise or spend money. WEC advises filing it "prior to collecting or spending any money on the campaign."
For the April 2027 election, local candidates file the registration on paper with their local filing officer, which for village offices is the village clerk. A few costs are allowed before registration: renting a post office box, the minimum deposit to open a bank account, and producing nomination papers (Wis. Stat. 11.0202(2)).
If you do not expect contributions, spending and obligations combined to pass $2,500 in a calendar year, you can claim an exemption from filing campaign finance reports. That exemption does not excuse you from registering, and you must still keep records of every contribution and expense. Our explainer on campaign registration for Wisconsin local candidates covers the details.
Step 4 (nomination papers): Collect 20 to 100 signatures
If your village uses nomination papers, every village office requires at least 20 and no more than 100 signatures. Use the WEC form EL-169, Nomination Paper for Nonpartisan Office.
When you can start
Circulation may begin on Tuesday, December 1, 2026. Signatures dated before that day are not counted.
Who can sign
Each signer must live in the village, be an eligible voter, and be at least 18 on the day they sign. Each signer writes their signature, a legible printed name, their municipality of residence for voting, their street and number, and the date. An apartment number, state and ZIP code are not required. People must sign their own names; a spouse cannot sign for them.
Who can circulate
A circulator is the person who collects the signatures. In Wisconsin, a circulator may be any qualified Wisconsin elector, or any U.S. citizen age 18 or older who would not be disqualified from voting if they lived in Wisconsin. You may circulate your own papers. The circulator completes and dates the certification at the bottom of each page, including their full street address. Signatures dated after the circulator's certification date do not count, and an incomplete certification can void the whole page.
Aim above the minimum
Signatures can be challenged and struck, so collect comfortably more than 20, but do not file more than 100. Our sibling post on how many signatures you need on Wisconsin nomination papers explains the counts for every local office.
Step 5 (nomination papers): File by 5 p.m. January 5, 2027
File three things with the village clerk by 5 p.m. on Tuesday, January 5, 2027:
- Your nomination papers (EL-169), numbered in order starting from 1. Originals only. Photocopies, faxes and emails are not accepted, and the clerk must have the papers in hand by the deadline.
- Your Declaration of Candidacy (EL-162).
- Your campaign registration statement (CF-1), if you have not already filed it.
A faxed or emailed EL-162 or CF-1 must be followed by the original, postmarked by January 5, 2027. Once papers are filed, signatures cannot be added or removed.
If an incumbent is not running
An incumbent who does not plan to run must file a Notification of Noncandidacy (EL-163) by 5 p.m. on Friday, December 25, 2026. That date falls on Christmas Day, so ask your clerk how the office will handle it. If an incumbent neither files papers nor gives notice, the deadline for other candidates for that office is extended by 72 hours, to 5 p.m. on Friday, January 8, 2027. The clerk posts a public notice when this happens.
Steps 4 and 5 (caucus): Prepare for the caucus, then file
If your village nominates by caucus, the village board sets the caucus date, and the caucus is held between January 2 and January 21, 2027. State law says preference should be given to January 21.
At the caucus, the two candidates with the most votes for each office are nominated. For village trustee seats, the number nominated is twice the number of seats to be filled (Wis. Stat. 8.05(1)(h)). Being nominated by caucus makes you a candidate, so register promptly if you have not already.
After the caucus, you must file your Declaration of Candidacy (EL-162) and campaign registration statement (CF-1) by 5 p.m. on the fifth day after the clerk notifies you of your nomination. The clerk then draws lots for ballot order. Caucus procedures beyond these basics, such as how ties are handled, are set out in state law and local practice; ask your clerk for the details before the caucus.
A caucus campaign is about persuading neighbors to attend and vote for you that night, so start talking to supporters in December.
Step 6: Watch the challenge period
Anyone may challenge nomination papers by 5 p.m. on the third calendar day after the filing deadline, which is Friday, January 8, 2027 (computed under state rules). A challenge must be sworn. If you are challenged, your response is due by 5 p.m. on the third calendar day after the challenge is filed, and the clerk decides. You may correct some errors by affidavit, but you cannot add signatures, and defects in the page header cannot be fixed after circulation.
Step 7: Know whether there will be a primary
Not every crowded village race has a primary. A village holds a spring primary only if the village board provides for one within three days after the filing deadline, if a charter ordinance requires one when three or more candidates file, or if a petition of 10 percent of the vote for governor was filed by December 1. Even then, there is no primary unless the number of candidates is more than twice the number of seats (Wis. Stat. 8.11(1m)). If a primary is held, it falls on Tuesday, February 16, 2027, and only the winners appear on the April ballot.
Spring ballots carry no party labels, and the order of names is set by drawing lots.
Step 8: Build your supporter list and keep in touch with it
Every conversation at a door is a chance to ask, "May I text you updates about the campaign?" Keep that permission separate from the nomination paper itself. A signature on a nomination paper is not permission to text. Carry a separate sign-up sheet that says plainly that the person agrees to receive campaign texts, and record the date.
If you plan to walk the village door to door, Beacon, our canvassing app, puts your walk list on a map, plans an efficient route, and records which doors were visited and the result.
Set up texting in CampaignCNX+
Once you have opted-in supporters, set up your texting in CampaignCNX+:
- Open your account. Every new account includes 100 free SMS. Your number is $5 a month, and nothing sends until you buy it.
- Let us file your carrier registration. The carriers are the mobile phone companies, and they require a registration for campaign texting from a local-style number, called 10DLC. CampaignCNX+ files it for you and guides you through Campaign Verify, the check that confirms to the carriers you are a real campaign.
- Add your supporters with tags. Tag people by how you met them, such as "signed up at doors" or "volunteer," and record where their permission came from in a custom field.
- Send to a group and answer replies. Send a short update to the right group. Replies arrive in a two-way inbox, opt-outs are handled automatically, and messages are scheduled only between 8 a.m. and 9 p.m.
Campaign Verify requires a published filing from an election authority. Wisconsin local registrations are filed on paper with the clerk and may not be posted online, so read our guide to texting voters in a Wisconsin local race before you request it.
For more on how campaign texting works, see our political texting guide.
Get ready to reach your supporters
Open your account now, and have your texting registered before the busy weeks of the campaign.