The Wisconsin recall vote has become ground zero in the war of the Unions vs. The People.
First, the governor and the legislature make changes in order to save the state from bankruptcy, which makes the unions angry because they have to, you know, make SACRIFICES. Of course, being union disqualifies you from having to suffer through this recession/depression, like everyone else. Long live pensions! Long live job protections! Long live fully paid benefits! Long live wage increases!
When the recall petitions were finally submitted with a the much-touted “over a million” signatures, there were questions raised. The Government Accountability Board (coff, coff) stated that they would take any signature as long as there was a legitimate address listed. Hello, Donald Duck and Adolph Hitler!
Then True the Vote stepped up and wanted to help out with the gargantuan task of verifying the signatures. They are assisting the WiGOL (Wisconsin Grandsons of Liberty) and WTOPTR (We the People of the Republic). The effort, dubbed Verify the Recall, has requested for help from all over the country. Volunteers can input data from the PDF files from their own homes. And donate to the cause from their own homes, as well. I don’t think the GAB had counted on such outside, organized assistance for the recall targets. The GAB decided not to release the petition lists, claiming “privacy” issues. The “privacy” issue didn’t come up in previous recall efforts. Hmmmm…. The public outcry made them change their minds, so now the petitions are available in PDF format, meaning that the names must all be entered by hand into the VTR database.
Almost immediately, problems with the signatures began cropping up.
Now, the GAB has decided it will not review any information provided by Verify the Recall, stating that it will only accept information from the campaigns themselves.
GAB Director and General Counsel Kevin Kennedy said there is no process in place for accepting information from outside groups and individuals. Governor Scott Walker and the four Republican state senators against whom recall petitions were filed last month are the only parties that can contest the validity of signatures, according to Kennedy.
And they are putting the onus on the individual voters to make the correction, and even then they mustn’t bother the GAB directly with their report of voter fraud:
The GAB will not investigate or consider independently-submitted evidence of recall petition fraud. This includes circumstances wherein individuals might notify the board that their own name and forged signature were submitted.
According to the GAB, anyone concerned that their signature was fraudulently included on a recall petition, therefore, must notify not the GAB, but rather the target of the recall. In addition, they must do so by the challenge deadline if they want that signature reviewed and ultimately, possibly, struck.
VTR has set up a database where people can supply their names as “not wanting to sign” the recall petition; if their names show upon the recall petition, those names can be contested as fraudulent.
Their reason for being such bubbleheaded blatantly-Democrat leaning dunderheads?
The GAB discussion on the petition review criteria and process focused on their minimum statutory requirements. However nothing in state statutes prohibits the GAB from considering independently-gathered evidence of fraud.
“Given the unprecedented nature of these recall efforts it would be improper to change procedures in the midst of our review,” Kennedy wrote. [emphasis mine]
Given the “unprecedented nature of the recall efforts,” I would assume that a taxpayer funded entity would want to make sure that a public election for taxpayer representatives would be as legitimate as possible. In other words, they SHOULD DO THEIR JOBS!
VTR is opposing this decision. We’ll see how well they do. I’m not holding my breath.
I guess the valid question is: What are their jobs? Who do the GAB report to? Are they supposed to keep the liberals in power, or represent the taxpayers?
Questions, questions, questions.
