GOP lawmakers likely to give Walker more power in recall process

[hue]

Source: Milwaukee Jounal Sentinel

Sept. 27, 2011 6:24 p.m.

Madison - Republican lawmakers signaled Tuesday they will likely give Gov. Scott Walker authority over how recall petitions can be gathered, just as Democrats gear up to recall him next year.

The move would allow Walker to halt a policy developed by nonpartisan election officials that, at least in theory, could make it easier for groups to gather signatures to recall the governor, as well as legislators from either party.

"You have given the governor control of the chicken coop, so to say," Sen. Lena Taylor (D-Milwaukee) told Republicans.

But GOP lawmakers raised concerns that election officials had gone too far with their interpretation of state laws and said the governor and lawmakers should have a chance to weigh in on them.

Under the changes Republicans are considering, Walker would also get to decide whether universities can put stickers on their identification cards that would make them so they could be used for voting.

The Government Accountability Board, which oversees state elections, adopted policies this month on recall petitions and which student IDs can be used for voting.

Legislative leaders raised concerns about those procedures, and on Tuesday, the Joint Committee for Review of Administrative Rules took testimony from Kevin Kennedy, director of the accountability board. The co-chairs of the committee, Sen. Leah Vukmir (R-Wauwatosa) and Rep. Jim Ott (R-Mequon), expressed skepticism of the policies and said they would likely ask the accountability board to adopt them as administrative rules.

Walker would have to sign off on such rules, and if he declined to do so, he could stop them entirely. If Walker approved them, the rules would then go before the committee, which could eventually block them, approve them or ask for modifications.

Read more: http://www.jsonline.com/news/statepolitics/130671518.html

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It never ends here in Wisconsin!!

[sakabatou]

1. Motherfuckers!

[INdemo]

2. its a long time till the recall elections ..A simple challenge in Federal court

could set things right..But it could also rule against the Democrats..What in the hell is happening in this country..This may be state business but this is how the Fascists do things and I have a feelings this could happen on a national level with voter ID's..And Democrats will keep their month shut and just let it happen.

[Bjorn Against]

3. They can begin gathering signatures for the recall in about six weeks or so.

The recall process can begin in early November, it would take much longer for this to go through the court system. What could happen is the courts could place a temporary hold on the law until legal challenges can be heard. My understanding is that it requires a Constitutional Amendment to change the recall rules so hopefully this can be stopped.

[Bjorn Against]

5. Here is what the Wisconsin Constitution says, it prohibits any law that would hamper the process

SECTION 12. The qualified electors of the state of any congressional, judicial or legislative district or of a county may petition for the recall of any incumbent elective officer after the first year of the term for which the incumbent was elected, by filing a petition with the filing officer with whom the nomination petition to the office in the primary is filed, demanding the recall of the incumbent.

(1) The recall petition shall be signed by electors equalling at least twenty-five percent of the vote cast for the office of governor at the last preceding election, in the state, county or district which the incumbent represents.
(2) The filing officer with whom the recall petition is filed shall call a recall election for the Tuesday of the 6th week after the date of filing the petition or, if that Tuesday is a legal holiday, on the first day after that Tuesday which is not a legal holiday.
(3) The incumbent shall continue to perform the duties of the office until the recall election results are officially declared.
(4) Unless the incumbent declines within l0 days after the filing of the petition, the incumbent shall without filing be deemed to have filed for the recall election. Other candidates may file for the office in the manner provided by law for special elections. For the purpose of conducting elections under this section:
(a) When more than 2 persons compete for a nonpartisan office,a recall primary shall be held. The 2 persons receiving the highest number of votes in the recall primary shall be the 2 candidates in the recall election, except that if any candidate receives a majority of the total number of votes cast in the recall primary, that candidate shall assume the office for the remainder of the term and a recall election shall not be held.
(b) For any partisan office, a recall primary shall be held for each political party which is by law entitled to a separate ballot and from which more than one candidate competes for the party's nomination in the recall election. The person receiving the highest number of votes in the recall primary for each political party shall be that party's candidate in the recall election. Independent candidates and candidates representing political parties not entitled by law to a separate ballot shall be shown on the ballot for the recall election only.
(c) When a recall primary is required, the date specified under sub. (2) shall be the date of the recall primary and the recall election shall be held on the Tuesday of the 4th week after the recall primary or, if that Tuesday is a legal holiday, on the first day after that Tuesday which is not a legal holiday.
(5) The person who receives the highest number of votes in the recall election shall be elected for the remainder of the term.
(6) After one such petition and recall election, no further recall petition shall be filed against the same officer during the term for which he was elected. (7) This section shall be self-executing and mandatory. Laws may beenacted to facilitate its operation but no law shall be enacted to hamper, restrict or impair the right of recall.

[Phlem]

4. Some balls, communicating how

they're going to rig the election for everyone to hear and nothing we can do about it.

This is Corporate, not a small bunch of ignorant re-thugs getting together to hash out a plan.

:mad:

Corporate person-hood needs to END, YESTERDAY!

-p

[Plucketeer]

6. I agree wholeheartedly!

This isn't just some local miscreants trying to play games. This comes from on high. This is part of a pincher operation like was popular on WWII battlefields. Surround pockets of resistance and then squeeze them to the point of surrender. Once this nation has had third world wages forced down it's throat, the battle will be over. That's what Reagan and Clinton had in mind all along. The current administration's playing the same game. I'm glad I'm in the twilight of my years.

[SoapBox]

7. Man oh man...what the hell.

Sheesh...what the "F" happened to this state. UnFrack'n believable...Faciscm to the max.

[orbitalman]

8. The Dirty, Filthy Republicans.

[hue]

9. The Koch Brothers' Million-Dollar Donor Club

reveals some of the $$$ donors who contribute to this. We should have a nation wide boycott of Menards for one thing. Here are some of them:

The Menards: John Menard of Eau Claire, Wisconsin, is the founder of Menards, the country's third-largest hardware company. He's worth a reported $5.2 billion and has donated about $80,000 to his state's Republican Party and federal candidates, mostly Republicans, according to FEC records. His company backed a recent anti-union program that was linked to the Kochs' Americans for Prosperity and supported by Gov. Scott Walker.

The Templetons: John "Jack" Templeton Jr. and his wife, Josephine, of Pennsylvania, gave $50,000 apiece to Wisconsin Justice Prosser's recount effort this year. Jack, an evangelical Christian, has donated more than $1 million to Republicans, according to state and federal records. He heads the John Templeton Foundation, an organization whose critics—including prominent scientists—say it aims to apply scientific legitimacy to matters of faith. The foundation was started by Jack's late father, Sir John the mutual fund billionaire, and in 2009 reportedly had $1.7 billion in assets.

Diane Hendricks: Hendricks is the billionaire former head of the ABC Supply roofing company, which she took over from her husband Kenneth after he died in a construction site accident in 2007. Reportedly worth $2.2 billion, she is the richest businesswoman in Wisconsin and a big Republican Party donor. She recently gave her state's embattled Republican governor, Scott Walker, $10,000 in advance of a potential recall vote next year.