Organizers Say 1 Million Signed Petition to Recall Wisconsin Governor

[jimmy olsen]

Impressive, such a big number bodes ill for Walker's chances.

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/18/us/organizers-say-1-million-signed-petition-to-recall-gov-walker-in-wisconsin.html?_r=1

Organizers Say 1 Million Signed Petition to Recall Wisconsin Governor

By MONICA DAVEY
Published: January 17, 2012

Critics of Gov. Scott Walker of Wisconsin on Tuesday said they had collected more than 1 million signatures, or nearly twice as many as required, on petitions to recall Mr. Walker and force a new election.

State officials now begin the arduous and expensive process of studying the petitions for flaws and duplicated names, but leaders of the recall effort say the number of signatures is so large as to put any serious legal challenge out of reach. Mr. Walker's critics needed only 540,208 signatures, and had estimated that they would reach at least 720,000 — so the still larger number came as a surprise to many.

Barring a legal fight, Mr. Walker, a Republican who took office a year ago and set off a firestorm by curtailing benefits and collective bargaining rights for public workers, will face a new election in the late spring or early summer. Nationally, only two governors have ever been removed through recall.

"This sends a message," said Graeme Zielinski, a spokesman for the Wisconsin Democratic Party, who described the 1 million names as evidence that this was the largest signature drive for a recall effort in United States history.

Mr. Walker was scheduled to attend a fund-raiser in New York on Tuesday, but in an earlier interview he had said he believed a recall election now appeared inevitable, but that he thought he would ultimately keep his job.

On Tuesday, his campaign office issued a statement on his behalf about the petitions. "I look forward to talking to the people of Wisconsin about my continued promises to control government spending, balance the budget and hold the line on taxes," Mr. Walker said. "In my first year in office, we did just that by eliminating a $3.6 billion budget deficit without raising taxes, all while the state added thousands of new jobs.  Instead of going back to the days of billion dollar budget deficits, double-digit tax increases and record job loss, I expect Wisconsin voters will stand with me and keep moving Wisconsin forward."

In what was to be a jubilant, carefully orchestrated celebration in Madison, volunteers, including Democrats and union supporters, from all over the state planned later Tuesday afternoon to submit the petitions to the Government Accountability Board, the state agency that oversees elections. With some fanfare, a truck was to carry the petitions — all 3,000 pounds of them — to the board's offices.

Ryan Lawler, a board member for United Wisconsin, the group that led the two-month signature collection effort, said the number of signers was a clear indication of the size of the emotions involved.

"Scott Walker and his supporters tried to demean and marginalize recall circulators, but in Wisconsin winter, an army of more than 30,000 Wisconsin born-and-bred recall volunteers took to street corners, malls, places of worship, dinner tables and sidewalks to take their state back," he said.

Petitions were also submitted on Tuesday for recall elections of the lieutenant governor, Rebecca Kleefisch (845,000 signatures were gathered on hers), and four Republican state senators, including Scott Fitzgerald, the majority leader who helped pass Mr. Walker's collective bargaining cuts over the protests of Democrats, who fled the state last year to block a vote.

Democrats, who are in the minority in the State Senate, 17 to 16, hope to seize at least one seat and take control. Nine recall elections last summer led to two Senate seats changing hands, but leaving Republicans in the majority.

Democrats had controlled both legislative chambers and the governor's office before the election of 2010, when Republicans, including Mr. Walker, swept into office. 

[Neil]

Of course the 1 million are fraudulent.  These are union supporters.

What doesn't make sense is that they probably could have got enough signatures legitimately.  Surely there are half a million Democrats in Wisconsin?

[Razgovory]

Neil, your post isn't even internally consistent.  Troll smarter, not harder.

[Caliga]

Recall elections need to be somehow made illegal.  The proper time to fire a politician is when they are next up for election.

[Neil]

Neil, your post isn't even internally consistent.  Troll smarter, not harder.

Sure it is.  Read harder.

[Neil]

Recall elections need to be somehow made illegal.  The proper time to fire a politician is when they are next up for election.

Correct.