With Gov. Scott Walker facing a serious recall effort, Wisconsin Republicans are acting scared. I say that because they're pushing new legislation which would require that petition gatherers, who already have to certify each petition they collect, have their own certifications notarized. Check out this load of BS that state Sen. Mary Lazich is circulating to the entire legislature to promote this bill (which you can view here):
Over the course of the last year, we have seen that this is not enough to ensure the integrity of the recall process. It was widely reported that people signed under false names, used inaccurate or incomplete addresses, and signed papers that they were not qualified to sign. Given the seriousness of the recall process, this is not acceptable.
This bill requires that the circulator’s signature must be authenticated by a notary public. This requirement will ensure that the circulator pays close attention to the signatures he or she gathers. The result will be fewer misrepresentations and errors, and greater integrity in the recall process.
All of Lazich's claims about fraud are, of course, nonsense. If the GOP believed that signatures gathered for this summer's recalls were so questionable, then why didn't they challenge them before the Government Accountability Board or a court of law? The fact that they didn't shows they don't have a leg to stand on, not even a stump.
Of course the real "result" of this bill will be to make it harder for Democrats to gather recall petitions against Walker. It may also run afoul of the state constitution (PDF), which says:
Laws may be enacted to facilitate its operation but no law shall be enacted to hamper, restrict or impair the right of recall.
Without conducting a review of any existing jurisprudence on the score, this law certainly sounds like it would "hamper, restrict or impair the right of recall" to me. Even if it is enacted and found to be constitutional, though, it would also undermine Republican efforts to push further recalls of Democratic state senators. Of course, the GOP would probably accept that price for helping to protect Walker. Their shamelessness in pursuit of naked partisan ends knows no bounds.