In a long-shot attempt by right-wing activists to recall Wisconsin's powerful Republican assembly speaker, Robin Vos, their efforts seem to have failed. The campaign, launched in January, aimed to force Vos out of office as a way to resolve the feud between Maga activists and the establishment-leaning assembly speaker.

This was not the first time that these activists, who identify themselves as the "grassroots" of the Wisconsin Republican party, attempted to remove Vos from office. In 2022, Vos's opponents challenged him in a primary and came close to victory, falling only 300 votes short.

The recall campaign shed light on the persistent election-denying movement in Wisconsin, whose proponents continue to make false claims about widespread voter fraud in the state. Meagan Wolfe, the non-partisan head of the Wisconsin elections commission, has been a target of their criticism. When Vos refused to push for her ouster, the movement turned their focus towards him.

Matthew Snorek, who filed the recall petition, stated at a press conference on Monday that the campaign had gathered 11,000 signatures, surpassing the requirement to trigger a recall election. However, an initial review by the Wisconsin elections commission found significantly fewer valid signatures than claimed by Snorek.

To initiate a recall election, the campaign needed to collect signatures from voters in Vos's district totaling 25% of the vote cast during the last gubernatorial election. The commission's staff discovered that, at best, the recall campaign had fallen short by 945 signatures during their initial review.

A crucial factor to consider is the redrawing of electoral maps in February. The Wisconsin supreme court ruled that the state's previous legislative maps were unconstitutional, hence enacting new maps in November. However, the court's ruling in December mandated the immediate implementation of the new maps.

During a meeting on Tuesday, the Wisconsin elections commission passed a motion requesting clarification from the Wisconsin supreme court regarding which district applies to the Vos recall campaign. Nonetheless, the likelihood of this question becoming relevant seems slim, as the recall campaign appears to have fallen short in Vos's new district as well.

In Vos's new district, the campaign garnered only 3,364 signatures, which amounts to about 12% of the total votes cast in the last gubernatorial election there. This falls short of the threshold needed to trigger a recall in that district.

Mark Thomsen, the WEC commissioner, expressed concern during the meeting that some signatures had been collected from individuals residing in neither of the districts under consideration. The validity of these signatures remains uncertain.

Should the recall effort ultimately fail, the group advocating Vos's removal intends to launch a second attempt during his primary this August. They claim that the Wisconsin elections commission is seemingly protecting Vos by discounting thousands of signatures and citing ambiguity with the maps. The group plans to challenge these decisions during the specified period.

This setback showcases the challenges faced by those seeking to recall Wisconsin Assembly Speaker Robin Vos, as they navigate jurisdictional complexities and strive to gather the necessary support for a successful recall campaign.