Wikipedia:Administrator recall

This page documents a procedural policy of Wikipedia.

It documents various processes by which the English Wikipedia operates.

You are invited to refine and workshop proposals to the recall process at Wikipedia:Administrator recall/Reworkshop. After the reworkshop is closed, the proposals will be voted on at an RfC.

Administrator recall is a process by which the community can require an administrator to make a re-request for adminship (RRfA) to retain their administrative privileges. It is one of several ways that adminship can be reviewed or removed.

In most cases, disputes with administrators should be resolved with the normal dispute resolution process outlined at WP:Administrators § Grievances by users ("administrator abuse"). Other methods of dispute resolution should be attempted before a recall petition is initiated.

Petition

Any extended confirmed editor may start a petition for an active^[a] administrator to make a re-request for adminship if they believe that the administrator has lost the trust of the community. The petition may not be created within twelve months of the administrator's last successful request for adminship, request for bureaucratship, or re-request for adminship, or within twelve months of the administrator being elected an administrator or elected to the Arbitration Committee. If a petition fails, another petition to recall the same administrator may not be started for six months from the date the last one was closed.

The editor who starts the petition must notify the administrator on their user talk page using the {{subst:Admin recall notice}} template. They must also post a notice to the administrator's noticeboard using the {{subst:Admin recall notice/AN}} template.

Any extended confirmed editor may add their signature to a petition, with or without reasoning. An editor can sign no more than five active petitions. Any editor may comment in a discussion section on the recall petition page. Any signature or comment may be struck based on the same criteria used during requests for adminship.

A petition can be closed:

As successful, if the petition reaches 25 signatures.
As unsuccessful, if the petition has been open for 30 days and has not reached the required number of signatures.
As successful, if the administrator requests an early closure, resigns, or begins a reconfirmation RfA.

If the petition is successful, the administrator is required to begin a reconfirmation RfA or stand as a candidate in an administrator election.

Current petitions

This is a list of open administrator recall petitions.

none currently

Closed petitions

A list of closed recall petitions may be found at Wikipedia:Administrator recall/Closed petitions.

Re-request for adminship

Shortcut

WP:RRfA

An administrator seeking to retain administrative privileges must have their re-request for adminship (RRfA) transcluded to Wikipedia:Requests for adminship within thirty days of the close of a successful recall petition. If an administrator election is scheduled within those thirty days, they may stand in it instead.

The bureaucrats are responsible for ensuring that an RRfA is started within a reasonable time frame. If this does not happen, they may remove the administrator privileges at their discretion.

A re-request for adminship follows the same process as a request for adminship, but with lower thresholds for passing. In an RRfA, any administrator who obtains at least 60% support will retain their administrator role. If the administrator receives between 50 and 60% support, the community's consensus will be determined by the bureaucrats. If the administrator runs in an administrator election instead of initiating a re-request for adminship, they must obtain at least 55% support to retain their administrative privileges.

Notes

^ Administrators who have received a notification about pending procedural removal of administrative privileges due to insufficient activity can not be desysopped through administrator recall as long as their status is listed as "Pending" in a way consistent with the administrator policy. A petition to recall such an administrator is summarily dismissed and has no effect on the administrator, as if it had never existed (it does not even count as a failed petition), even if the administrator resumes activity while the petition page is technically open.
An editor who has concerns about a soon-to-be procedurally desysopped administrator's continued suitability for the role should simply wait for them to become procedurally desysopped. Attempts to address the perceived issue through other methods of dispute resolution can be made throughout. If the issue is an emergency, see the relevant ArbCom procedure