Wikipedia:Administrator recall

"WP:RECALL" redirects here. For voluntary recall, see WP:Administrators open to recall. For previous failed proposals, see WP:History of de-adminship proposals § Proposed processes.

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.

Historically, many administrators have been open to voluntary recall. While this page describes a process that all administrators must follow, admins can additionally create and follow their own independent recall process, including modified versions of this process that make it easier for them to be recalled.

Petition

Any extended confirmed editor may start a petition for an 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. The closer should then notify the subject using {{subst:Admin recall notice/passed}} and the administrator's noticeboard using {{subst:Admin recall notice/AN/passed}}. The subject is then required to make a re-request for adminship or stand as a candidate in an administrator election if they want to remain an admin. The same requirement exists when a petition is closed early at the subject's request or if they agree to make a re-request for adminship; it should also be closed early if they 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 and petitions that passed the threshhold for recall in the past 30 days so the administrator may run for Re-request for Adminship.

• none currently

Closed petitions

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

Re-request for adminship

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 to begin within those thirty days, they may stand in it instead.

An RRfA 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.

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. Should the administrator fail to pass an RRfA or administrator election, bureaucrats may remove their privileges.

See also

• Wikipedia:Administrator recall/RfCs – list of RFCs that led to creation of this process (as well as ongoing and proposed RfCs for amendments)
• Wikipedia:Administrators open to recall – voluntary recall procedure adopted by some administrators
• Wikipedia:History of de-adminship proposals – history of previous attempts to create an administrator recall process
• Wikipedia:Administrator recall/Reworkshop – page to propose and refine changes to rework Administrator recall