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.

If a petition reaches the required twenty five signatures within thirty days, it should be closed and the subject is required to make a re-request for adminship or stand as a candidate in an administrator election. A petition can also be closed early, at the subject's request, if they agree to make a re-request for adminship or resign their adminship. A petition that has been open for thirty days and has not gained the required number of signatures should be closed without requiring the subject to make re-request for adminship.

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.

Current re-RFAs

This is a list of open administrator re-RFAs following a successful petition for recall.

Wikipedia:Requests for adminship/Graham87 2 (initiated November 17, 2024)

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

^
The status of an administrator who:
- has been notified about pending procedural removal of administrative privileges due to insufficient activity and whose status is listed as "Pending" in a way consistent with the administrator policy, or
- has not edited in at least 3 months (a list based on this criterion should be maintained),
can not be the subject of a recall petition. Such a petition is summarily dismissed and has no effect on the administrator, as if it had never existed (it does not even count as failed), even if they resume activity while the petition is technically open.
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.