Archive for March 9th, 2012
WI GAB Agrees 4 Senate Recalls Should Go Forward
Folks, there was one story tonight that demanded my attention: the Wisconsin Government Accountability Board has agreed that there were more than enough valid signatures submitted to recall Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald and State Senators Terry Moulton, Pam Galloway, and Racine’s own Van Wanggaard. All four are Republican legislators, and all four will face recall elections in the coming months (the current GAB estimate is May).
Here’s a link to the story:
But these figures are what should concern you, to wit: how many recall signatures were actually struck by the GAB after the Republicans challenged them?
The Committee to Recall Scott Fitzgerald submitted “about” 20,735 petitions to recall him; 16742 were required. The GAB recommended that 867 signatures be struck, which leaves more than enough signatures to recall him. (Note that the 867 signatures to be struck is less than 5% of the total signatures, which is considered to be a good percentage; this means the recall petitioners, all volunteers, did their best to make sure recall petitions were only signed by people who were eligible to sign.)
The Committee to Recall Van Wanggaard submitted 23,712 signatures; 15,353 were required. The GAB said 643 should be struck, including 11 signatures that apparently were gathered fraudulently by a well-known Racine Republican, Mark Demet (he’s not named in the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel article, but the Racine Journal-Times has talked about the problems with Demet here); those latter signatures have been challenged by the Racine County Sheriff’s Department and charges have been filed against Demet. Obviously, there are more than enough signatures to recall Van Wanggaard and the recall will go forward. (And look at the percentage, again, of the signatures that were struck; here we’re talking about something like 3% of the total were invalid. Obviously the Rs were hoping for more invalid signatures than this.)
The Committee to Recall Pam Galloway submitted 21,022 signatures to recall her; 15647 were needed. The GAB said 1,658 should be struck. More than enough signatures remain to force a valid recall election (and once again, this is under 10% of the total, which is an excellent percentage).
The Committee to Recall Terry Moulton submitted 20,907 signatures; 14,958 were needed. The GAB said that 1,212 signatures should be struck, which leaves more than enough valid signatures to force a recall election (again, under 10% of the signatures were declared invalid).
So the first hurdle has been crossed; let the Senatorial recalls begin!
Editing this Week; Waiting for Federal Judges’ Ruling in Redistricting Case
Happy Friday, everyone.
This week I’ve spent a lot of time editing, which is why I haven’t blogged overmuch. Plus, I’ve been awaiting the three-judge federal panel from the United States District Court to rule on the Wisconsin redistricting case all week, but so far, they haven’t made a ruling.
This, quite frankly, is puzzling. The three-judge Federal panel needs to file their ruling within ten days of the end of testimony — but testimony ended on February 24, 2012 and it’s now March 9, 2012. (Perhaps the “ten days” includes next Monday, and that’s why there’s been no ruling as of yet?)
So that’s about it — just editing, doing a bit of writing here and there, and waiting for the judges to make up their mind — a typical Friday here in Wisconsin, at least for me.
Enjoy your weekend, folks.
Barb Caffrey's Blog 