December 30, 2011

"It’s the first time I can recall — let me rephrase — it’s the first time I’m aware of a recall-related lawsuit...

"... where only the official who is being targeted for recall gets to be a party, and the folks who are working to recall that official are shut out of the process."

Organizers of the recall petition drive against Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker got shut out of the lawsuit Walker brought against the Government Accountability Board. Walker is suing to force the GAB to do something to check for duplicate, fake, and forged signatures on the petitions. The judge rejected the intervention to avoid delay in a case where speed is important and because the GAB will make the necessary arguments defending its own policy.

Really, what would the Democrats pushing the recall add that would even help their side of the argument? Shouldn't they prefer that the argument against checking the signatures be made by the (seemingly) neutral entity, the GAB? Those questions make the intervention look like a delay tactic, but seeming like an agent of delay undercuts the argument they wanted to make about not bogging down the process with signature-checking.

But maybe what they wanted was to be put in a position where they can complain about getting shut out — as we're seeing now — and put pressure on the judge from the outside.

Speaking of delay, the lawyer for the petition organizers — quoted in the post title — arrived 35 minutes late for the hearing on the motion to intervene.

26 comments:

KCFleming said...

• Fake and multiple signatures, no problem.
• No ID required to vote, no problem.

Arguing against honest and true elections seems very strange indeed.

But Wisconsin Democrats merely follow the US Attorney General here, so I can see how this is a national rather than a local effort.

Get Out the Fake Vote!

I mean, really, why not just have the Republicans actually vote and after that is tallied have the Democrats submit a number they need to win?

Hell, that's what Franken did.

Anonymous said...

I hope they win. I would love to see them argue in court that there should not be basic safeguards against fraud.

Seriously, what would their objection look like?

Martin L. Shoemaker said...

timmaguire42 said...
I hope they win. I would love to see them argue in court that there should not be basic safeguards against fraud.

Seriously, what would their objection look like?


RAAAAACISM!

Oh, wait, voter ID isn't involved in this case.

damikesc said...

So, recall organizers are publicly AGAINST avoiding fraud in voting now?

I'm shocked they are so open about it. It's almost relieving to see such honesty, to be honest.

Curious George said...

“What is happening in this lawsuit is the governor is frantically trying to escape the electorate,” Levinson (Recallers Atty)said."

This is a bullshit. Walker doesn't want to escape the electorate. He wants the issue to be narrowed to the electorate.

garage mahal said...

Looks like judge shopping is now okay, if you're a Republican!

You'd think with all the out of state fundraisers Walker has been hitting he would have more than enough money to verify sigs, if he was really worried about it. Which of course he isn't.

machine said...

This has more to do with who does the checking than fraud...

Other states (see Virginia) require challengers to confirm duplicate, fake, and forged signatures...not the state government.

Walker wants us to pay the bill instead of just his party...must be a socialist.

SomeoneHasToSayIt said...

I think it was Dennis Miller that has said that the name Al Sharpton should never be uttered without putting the words "Tawana Brawley" between the "Al" and the "Sharpton".

I feel the same way about any item that discusses any aspect of this outrage.

Every time it is mentioned, the "recall" should be referred to as
"the shocking and shameful abuse of the recall mechanism, by democracy and fair-play-hating, despicable sore-loser and bad citizen Wisconsin Democrats".

To do anything other than that, is to give it a default legitimacy that it doesn't deserve.

Scopeless said...

The flaw in all of the "let's stop this fraud" arguments is that the GAB is currently following the law by not automatically striking the signatures. It will flag those signatures for Walker, however.

I'd hate to see a judge legislate from the bench.

Also, the Dems have an incentive to self-check the signatures (which they are) so they know they've reached their goal, without fraud, to survive a challenge.

Frankly, this whole Hitler signature thing is hilarious and has already been proved a borderline fabrication. If you want a partisan GAB, then change the law so they have to take a stance on signatures. Otherwise, follow the law as it is written. To borrow a line from a Walker ad, it feels like sour grapes to me.

I don't know what the big deal is anyway if Walker and other conservatives say he can win the recall election (which it looks like that's the case, with no real Dem challenger).

Larry J said...

damikesc said...
So, recall organizers are publicly AGAINST avoiding fraud in voting now?

I'm shocked they are so open about it. It's almost relieving to see such honesty, to be honest.


More and more, I'm coming to the uncomfortable conclusion that the Democrat Party is the largest and most dangerous criminal enterprise in America.

And what a surprise, garage in, garbage out.

KCFleming said...

"Also, the Dems have an incentive to self-check the signatures "

ha ha ha.
No they don't. There is no such incentive at all.

Garage and Allie on this blog reported that they and others signed the petitions multiple times.

machine said...

"More and more, I'm coming to the uncomfortable conclusion that the Democrat Party is the largest and most dangerous criminal enterprise in America."

...says the party of Delay, Abramoff, Libby, Liddy, Ney, and of course Duke Cunningham!

They hate the government unless its making them money! (Newt, anyone?)

garage mahal said...

Garage and Allie on this blog reported that they and others signed the petitions multiple times.

Why do you keep reporting this lie?

kjbe said...

No they don't. There is no such incentive at all.

Garage and Allie on this blog reported that they and others signed the petitions multiple times.


But, Pogo, the dems have a huge incentive to count the multiple signings as one - they want as accurate a number as is possible. Every signature line is getting reviewed and entered into a database, if it is unique. Duplicates are not.

edutcher said...

I love the sound of schaudenfreude in the morning.

Some people just can't believe they haven't got a fix for all occasions.

machine said...

"More and more, I'm coming to the uncomfortable conclusion that the Democrat Party is the largest and most dangerous criminal enterprise in America."

...says the party of Delay, Abramoff, Libby, Liddy, Ney, and of course Duke Cunningham!

They hate the government unless its making them money! (Newt, anyone?)


I guess that's why Pelosi Galore isn't quitting after all. Without access to all that good insider trading info, she'd have to go on food stamps like all the little people.

James said...

Walker wants us to pay the bill instead of just his party...must be a socialist.

So how is that different from you wanting the rest of us, Wisconsin taxpayers, to foot the bill for recall elections because you don't like the result of the last one?

James said...

If you want a partisan GAB

Its already partisan; packed with Jim Doyle appointees.

garage mahal said...

The GAB consists of retired judges, confirmed with unprecedented bipartisan support. Only 2 no votes between the Assembly and Senate. Three of them had no past involvement in partisan politics. The other three did. All had been Republicans.

Curious George said...

"Kit said...
But, Pogo, the dems have a huge incentive to count the multiple signings as one - they want as accurate a number as is possible. Every signature line is getting reviewed and entered into a database, if it is unique. Duplicates are not."

They are on record saying they are going to collect and turn in many more than the 540,000 signatures to insure that they required number be met with valid signatories.

So this kinda goes against your case.

Who is doing all this "Every signature line is getting reviewed and entered into a database, if it is unique. Duplicates are not." you claim?

Curious George said...

"Pogo said...
Garage and Allie on this blog reported that they and others signed the petitions multiple times."

Don't remember Allie but garage indicated that he signed twice...once for Walker and once for Kleefisch IIRC. I remember chuckling at the absurdity of recalling Kleefisch...the Lt. Governor has no real power or duties. This really shows that these recalls or nothing more than selfish acts of revenge.

MadisonMan said...

Why would a judge put up with a lawyer who is late to the proceedings?

wv: bother. Why?

MadisonMan said...

the Lt. Governor has no real power or duties

Like the Secy of State, the office is an anachronism and should be axed.

If a Gov can't fulfill duties, just have another election. It's not like a state without a Governor is a rudderless ship headed towards peril.

That would be my platform if I ran for Gov: Get rid of the Lt Governor's office funding, the Secy of State's funding (I don't know -- can the Governor line-item veto the funding?) and merge counties to save more money.

coolkevs said...

Even if I did sign the recall, why would I want to see this at the Rose Bowl - I'm trying to get away from Wisconsin! And what's to prevent a few thousand Californians from signing it now...
http://whbl.com/news/articles/2011/dec/30/recall-walker-organizers-to-gather-signatures-at-rose-bowl/

Joe said...

I'm still curious where all the banana trees are in Wisconsin.

Larry J said...

...says the party of Delay, Abramoff, Libby, Liddy, Ney, and of course Duke Cunningham!

They hate the government unless its making them money! (Newt, anyone?)


Compared to the massive criminality of the Democrat Party, those examples you listed are pikers. Nancy Pelosi funnels millions of tax dollars to businesses with family connections and nothing happens. Obama funnels billions to bundlers and political cronies and nothing happens. Groups like SEIU work to actively conduct election fraud to elect Democrats and nothing happens. I'm not saying that every Democrat is a crook but the party enables and advances criminal activity to benefit itself.

Toad Trend said...

"I'm not saying that every Democrat is a crook but the party enables and advances criminal activity to benefit itself."

Legalized theft in the guise of a political party!

Oh, its VERY fashionable to 'belong' to the 'party', but things go south quickly when 'country' is systematically burned at the altar of 'party'...

The WI dem party I'm sure has everyone's best interests at heart.

wv - exciveg

Fast fennel.