Wisconsin Democrats today filed with the Government Accountability Board claiming that enough signatures filed to recall State Senator Dave Hansen (Green Bay) are invalid that the recall did not succeed and no recall election should be held.
Here are their findings, in pdf format.
Basically, it breaks down as follows:
18,870 signatures turned in, then at least...
- 2,335 from out of the District
- 499 not signed in the 60 day period
- 516 with bad addresses
- 176 with bad circulator dates
- 1096 with bad circulator addresses
- 160 duplicate signatures
- 49 ineligible voters
- 361 fakes and forgeries
- 360 who stated they were lied to
= 13,318 signatures...
...which is 534 SHORT of the required number!
Besides the obviously invalid signatures from out of the district, much has been made of the for-hire signature gatherers the republicans employed and the possible fraud they committed in the name of a quick buck.
The GAB now has to rule on these signatures and decide whether or not the recall election will go forward. Here's hoping they do the right thing and we'll have one lest Democrat to worry about as we try to take the Wisconsin State Senate back!