Wisconsin Republicans have mounted a new response to the effort to recall Gov. Scott Walker — filing a lawsuit today against the state Government Accountability Board, which oversees elections, alleging that Walker’s 14th Amendment constitutional rights are being violated by the procedures the board uses in verifying, accepting or rejecting petition signatures.
The state GOP’s legal complaint argues that the GAB’s procedures for recall petitions, which involve the incumbent’s campaign challenging duplicate signatures of people who would have signed more than once — place an undue burden on the Walker campaign. Under the law, the incumbent has a ten-day review period, in which to submit challenges.
“The GAB’s position that it is the responsibility of the Walker campaign to identify and challenge duplicate signatures flies in the face of the idea of a fair electoral process,” the party said in a press release.
When asked for comment, the GAB gave TPM this statement from Director Kevin Kennedy: “The plaintiffs are challenging the procedures that have been established by statutes and administrative code, and which have been in place since the late 1980s. Since then, these rules have been used in every state and local recall petition effort against incumbents of both parties.”
State Dem spokesman Graeme Zielinski told TPM: “We have a system in place to review signatures before we submit them to the GAB. This doesn’t change our system and neither will it stop the recall of Scott Walker.”
Earlier Thursday, the Dems announced that they had collected over 507,000 signatures in 30 days, getting very close to the legal threshold of just over 540,000 signatures in 60 days. (They are also working towards a goal of 720,000 total, in order to have an absolute buffer against disqualification.) Zielisnki told TPM that this 507,000 figure takes into account the party’s own efforts to weed out bad signatures.
Somewhat ironically, the shortness of the ten-day challenge period came up in this past year’s state Senate recalls — involving allegations of signature fraud by paid Republican collectors. In the end, the GAB gave the green light to three recalls against incumbent Democrats, deciding that the high burden to disqualify enough signatures to stop the recalls had not been met.
The new complaint makes a novel, and very expansive, argument based on the 14th Amendment’s guarantee of Equal Protection — with what comes across as not just dry legalese, but also some points of political rhetoric:
16. The decision of one otherwise qualified elector to sign or not sign a recall petition can have no more weight than the decision of another otherwise qualified elector.
17. An elector who knowingly signs a recall petition with the intent to have his or her name counted more than once, and the GAB’s public acquiescence of such a situation, violates the Equal Protection rights of those otherwise qualified electors who choose not to sign a recall petition.
18. Not surprisingly, Scott K. Walker, has chosen not to sign a recall petition. The position of the GAB allows other, equally-situated qualified electors to have their decisions count more than the individual decision of Mr. Walker and the hundreds of thousands, perhaps millions, of other Wisconsin electors who have chosen not to sign.
And here is the argument that the Walker campaign’s rights are being violated by having to do the work of challenging signatures:
21. A government agency may not place unequal burdens on respective electors. Under the GAB’s position, an elector signing multiple petitions with the intent that the signatures be counted more than once faces no deterrent or penalty. In order to be counted equally with that person, Scott K. Walker must undertake the burden (without the assistance of the GAB) of identifying and challenging multiple submissions of signatures by the elector.
22. Moreover, under current GAB rules, Scott K. Walker and FOSW [the Walker campaign committee — Friends Of Scott Walker] will have only 10 days to examine, compare and then challenge more than 540,000 signatures - more than 50,000 signatures a day. Under the applicable circumstances, it will be a practical impossibility for FOSW and Scott K. Walker to review, identify and challenge multiple signatures.
Eric Kleefeld
Eric Kleefeld joined TPM as an intern for the final months of the 2006 midterm elections, and then kept showing up for work. His other interests include guitars, old comic books and the politics of various English-speaking countries.
The Wisconsin GOP is worried.It has every reason to be so. The Governor has betrayed his state by his heavy handedness and now he stands on the precipice of having to use all that KOCH money one more time to defend his election. Fight on Democrats. They are running scared.
There were over 2 million votes cast in the last election. If the Democrats cannot get 540,000 signatures without resorting to duplicate signatures, then Walker has nothing to be worried about. He would easily win the recall election.
Yet he is worried. I wonder why.
drwtsn When Repub state senators were recalled for cause, Repubs (again with unlimited resources at their disposal) retaliated by recalling Dem senators for NO cause. Look back at the dirty game they played then, and you'll have a sense of how this will go.
Meanwhile, remember, they almost certainly "fixed" the election of Prosser back to state S.C., so when they go to litigation over something like this, they're pretty sure they own the highest Court and will win after appealing up to it. [ALEC also owns at least two U.S. Supreme Court justices blatantly, out in the open, and possibly two more. ALEC created "Citizens United"; SCOTUS ruled for "Citizens United," and ended government by the people, probably for generations.]
The "collected over 507,000 signatures in 30 days" link is borked.
Isn't this the guy who got his job ruining Milwaukee as the result of a recall election?
lee4713 exactamente, lee.
lee4713 That is indeed the fact, lee. Then he proceeded to DESTROY Milwaukee County, which is now politically unrecognizable and insolvent. Kochs were so pleased that they made him Governor, and now they are protecting their investment.
Unfortunately, defeating the recall has unlimited financial backing and dozens of the slickest, most dishonest lawyers available to those who can pay the most.
Get that damn fool out of your Governor's office Scott Walker like all these Republicans Governors are there for reasons unrelated to doing right by the citizens! We the American people are so proud of you folks Hang in there!
Maybe he should sue himself, then convict himself, then pardon himself, then get hisself re-elected based on his credulity & strict constitutional adherence.
leftflank or he could just recall himself.
As Ross Perout (sic) would say, the next sucking sound you hear is Walker being sucked out of office by a high wind. The 14th Amendment was written to protect free white men. It was written and amended to give basic human rights ot freed slaves.
Why is he afraid of an election? He should embrace such a wonderful chance! I know we the voters of Wisconsin will!
What a whiner! Bullies always are when you stand up to them.
Please don't give in Wisconsin. Too many democrats are wimps. We have to fight this one with everything we've got. I wish I lived there so I could help. I'll send money.
Alice Fried No way are we giving in! We are still standing out in freezing weather to recall this POS. It was very cold in February when tens of thousands of us marched in Madison. We are not sunshine patriots, we are in it for the long haul!
Stephen PollinaAlice Fried
I am proud of Democracy in action... it's a beautiful thing... Go Wisconsin, keep showing us the way.
When did Scott Walker come across such a keen sense of social justice?
LeeJo when he suddenly realized how many pages it takes to list 720,000 signatures.
Great the republicans and the gas companies are ramming threw the keystone pipe line, witch will not be sold in the united states, And tpm is wasting time on this SHIT stain
This is absurd. Petition signers are not 'electors', because they are not participating in an election. The petition process is *only* to get the recall on the ballot, not to decide what the outcome of the recall will be. There is no equal protection issue involved at all.
He's scared shitless. 507,000 signatures already gathered and the petitions aren't due til 17 January 2012
.
williwaws Cornered and bearing teeth. This is the same feeling I had when I woke up to the collective bargaining news(a morning I'll never forget)... this is going to get real ugly.
williwaws The Dems should just go ahead and push for a MILLION signatures. They won't have ANY problem getting that million I guarantee it.That would be a wonderful buffer LOL.
This governor will try anything to game the system to his benefit. Disgusting! No moral compass. No integrity. Pure Slimeball.
Maybe he'll choose to simply destroy the petitions.
rhewitt Republicans have destroyed petitions here ... they will drive up and try to steal the petitions (some have succeeded and I know my petition volunteer told me she was too fast and strong for the thug that tried to take hers). There have also been reports of fake volunteers having folks sign their petitions, then shredding them. A volunteer in Madison got a direct death threat, and a woman volunteer got a voice mail threatening her family. (I haven't yet found follow-up whether any formal charges or arrests.)
And let's not forget that, as of yesterday, the right to assemble in WI of 4 or more people at the Capitol Square or other state property has a significant price .. a permit must be approved in advance, $50 an hour for additional police presence and clean-up fees. So much for Constitutional rights!
jlarhewitt Just remind people that defacing, stealing or otherwise attempting to ruin the petition is a felony offence. At least one doofus is facing charges after he scrawled over signatures.
This is from the same man who believes if, in a Union election, someone decides NOT to vote, he is, in effect, voting against the union position and must be counted as such. He is ALSO the Wisconsin Governor who was elected by one of the lowest percentage turnouts in State History and feels that he has a mandate because a majority of a minority of voters voted for him, a person who hid much of his program from the electorate.
WHAT?????!!
Koch-addicted Republicans BELIEVE IN THE 14TH AMENDMENT????!!!
SAY IT SO!!!!!!
I mean SAY IT AIN'T SO!!!!!!!!
My fault. LOL
wparsons60 Expansionist Tenthers, go fig.
wparsons60 Oooh I like it :
KOCH-AID, take it and get recalled!
Doesn't this mean Walker is suing himself? I am confused...
Ahh....that clickty-clackity sound we hear is that of recently shat bricks in the WI gov's mansion, may they have at least put down some newspaper...
Teathuglicans take over the state government.
Then they sue the same government.
Great guys make for great government. Ha ha ha.
I guess they're feeling overwhelmed by the sheer NUMBER of people who want him out!!!
Hilarious.
Walker is essentially complaining because *too*many*people*want*him*out*of*office*.
Nothing like a home field advantage. The article omitted mention that this case was filed in republican stronghold Waukesha County under the new law Walker just signed permitting someone suing the State to file in any county of the State. Formerly, the case would have been heard in Madison, as the State capital. And the assigned judge is a former republican legislator. However, the case is so frivolous that it's probably going to lose anyway. a little premature also as the GAB has done exactly nothing so far except put out a press release.
kevsdad333 seeing the inevitable, the intent may really be to delay the re-call for another year
I believe there is precedence for the GAB's decision but that means nothing to a Repuke packed court.
I have two words for Scott Walker - 4Q!!!!!!!
you know...there are computers that can take care of this whole problem...you sit someone down, they scan each page of signatures into the computer, and the computer then does an analysis of the signatures...
pages can probably be scanned in a day, two at max.
NerdRage These computers are not made by Diebold, are they?
The people of the great state of Wisconsin will not go quietly into the night if the right of recall is stolen from us.
"Scott K. Walker and FOSW [the Walker campaign committee — Friends Of Scott Walker] will have only 10 days to examine, compare and then challenge more than 540,000 signatures - more than 50,000 signatures a day"
well, if Scott had as many "Friends of Scott Walker" as there were signatures he wouldn't have a problem with only 10 days, eh?
MorriganNoregon Get ready folks....the deadline isn't here yet, but you are seeing the tip of the iceberg as far as desperate GOP legal attempts to glom up this process. You KNOW they are going to be trying to throw everything they can against the wall in hopes that something sticks legally. You KNOW that they are going to be challenging signatures. This is why I was so happy to hear that the Dems are making very careful efforts to vet signatures collected as soon as they are collected by running them by three different screeners to make sure they are as clean as they can possibly be in the face of challenges.
If you haven't done so, make a small contribution today via Act Blue to support the recall effort. Yes there are lots of volunteers out there working round the clock and in lots of lousy weather conditions, but there are also office rentals and other things to be paid for to get this done by the mid-January deadline for collection of signatures. And then there will be still more costs, particularly legal, in defending the effort against the Walker legal weasels who will be out in force.
Without citing to it, they are using the same legal theory that Scalia used when selecting Bush Jr. in 2000. That the rights of others would be implicated when the rights of people who screwed up voting are considered. Since Bush v Gore can't be cited, they didn't cite it. But it's a dog whistle if they get a friendly judge: "Hey! They let Bush in, so let me stay in!"
He won't be in this spot if he governed on what he campaigned on.
Conversation from Twitter
venice4change Nothing surprises me anymore after what I've seen this past year. WI R's are scared-they know they can not stop this recall!
FROM STORY
22. Moreover, under current GAB rules, Scott K. Walker and FOSW [the Walker campaign committee — Friends Of Scott Walker] will have only 10 days to examine, compare and then challenge more than 540,000 signatures - more than 50,000 signatures a day. Under the applicable circumstances, it will be a practical impossibility for FOSW and Scott K. Walker to review, identify and challenge multiple signatures.
MY COMMENTS
Walker has a case, BUT NOT ONLY AGAINST THE GAB, but against the organizers of the petition.
1. Walker is a legal office holder (Innocent until proven guilty)
2, The petition organizers are IN EFFECT SAYING that he
A. committed a crime (WROTE A LAW THAT PEOPLE DISAGREE WITH)
B. PUT HIM ON TRIAL (RECALL ELECTION),
C. AND MAYBE SENTENCE HIM (THROW HIM OUT OF OFFICE)
3. He should not have to prove that the GRAND JURY inditing him (GATHERING SIGNATURES) is biased against him.
4. THE ORGANIZERS AND THE GAB HAVE TO MAKE / PROVE THAT THE __ GRAND JURY __ IS COMPOSED OF UNBIASED PEOPLE.
======
NEXT POINT __ I think __ that 30 days is the right amount of time to review signatures.
======
NEXT POINT for reviewing signatures
1. Gather petition pages AND NUMBER THEM
2. OCR THEM = optical charactor
- spam
- offensive
- disagree
- off topic
Like