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MADISON - Four Republican senators on
Thursday challenged thousands of signatures submitted on petitions
seeking recall elections, but it's unclear if it will be enough to stop
those elections from occurring.
It's now up to the Government
Accountability Board to determine by March 19 how many of the signatures
will count.
The board has only posted estimates of
how many signatures were collected by recall organizers. Because of
that, it's not clear if the number of signatures being questioned by the
four senators is enough to prevent the elections.
The senators are also making broader
arguments related to the area that signatures were collected in and the
time period they were collected that could result in thousands more
being disqualified.
In part, the senators argue that new
legislative boundaries should have been in effect for the recall
process. However, the GAB has said it believes the old boundaries are in
effect for the recalls. The issue is also at play in three separate
lawsuits related to the redistricting process.
Excluding signatures that the senators
want tossed under that argument, there would still be enough valid ones
to order recall elections for Sens. Pam Galloway of Wausau and Van
Wanggaard of Racine.
The margin would be within just dozens of
signatures for Sen. Terry Moulton of Racine. There would not be enough
signatures to order a recall election of Sen. Scott Fitzgerald of
Juneau, the Senate majority leader.
Not counting the signatures at question
under the redistricting argument, Galloway was contesting 3,817
signatures, but she needed around 5,400 to be tossed. Wanggaard was
contesting 7,491 but he needed roughly 8,700 to be invalidated.
Fitzgerald is contesting 5,045 and he
only needs roughly 3,900 to be thrown out. And Moulton is contesting
6,112 and he needs about 6,000 to be disqualified.
A spokesman for the committee working to
elect Democrats in the Senate had no immediate comment.
Petitions were also submitted last month
to force recall elections for Republican Gov. Scott Walker and Lt. Gov.
Rebecca Kleefisch. Walker's deadline for challenging signatures is Feb.
27 and Kleefisch's is March 5.
Petition circulators have until Tuesday
to respond and the lawmakers would then get a chance to counter those
arguments.
Fitzgerald said in a release that he
found numerous problems including more than 750 signatures from people
living outside his district, nearly 100 incorrect or made up addresses,
about 1,500 signatures that had been manipulated, more than 250
duplicates, and 200 signatures with similar or identical handwriting.
"The recallers are trying to undo
the will of more than 44,000 voters in 2010, so the least they can do is
follow the rules and be honest with their signatures," Fitzgerald
said.
The recall drives, which have been
spearheaded by the Democratic Party, organized labor and concerned
citizens, were largely motivated by anger over the Walker-proposed law
the Republican-led Legislature pushed through last year that stripped
most public workers of collective bargaining rights.
Walker and Republicans argued the
changes, which also increase in the amount public workers had to pay for
health insurance and pension contributions, were necessary to deal with
a $3.6 billion budget. But opponents said the law was intended to
cripple the unions, which overwhelmingly back the Democrats.
Nine recall drives were launched last
year against six Republican and three Democratic members of the Senate.
Two Republicans were ousted, leaving the GOP with a 17-16 majority.
That means Democrats need to pick up only
one seat in the four potential recalls this year to take over control.
However, any election will occur after the Senate has adjourned for the
year and elections in November will determine the makeup of the Senate
for 2013.
Supporters of the recall say capturing
the majority before those elections will make it easier for Democrats to
maintain it going into 2013.
Democratic challengers have emerged for
three of the senators.
State Rep. Donna Seidel of Wausau said
she would take on Galloway. Former state Rep. Kristin Dexter of Eau
Claire will challenge Moulton and former Sen. John Lehman of Racine will
run against Wanggaard.
Lori Compas, the woman who organized the
recall drive against Fitzgerald, has said she is considering challenging
him.
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