FollowUp 1: Wisconsin Republican Dirty Tricks

As the effort to recall Governor Walker gets underway, it should not be surprising that there are numerous efforts to protect Mr. Walker's job.  After previously learning about Facebook taunts that recall petitions would be destroyed, discussed here, Republicans chose to file for recall before Democrats.  This gave Democrats a little less time to collect the 540,208 validated signatures, a tall task in Wisconsin.

The early filing, on 4 November 2011, was by David Brandt, filing as an individual.  He stated the reason he was filing to recall.

To fulfill my friend's last request.

That is a particularly strange wording.  Compare it with the filing, on 15 November 2011, by Julie Wells for the Committee to Recall Walker.

Today I am officially submitting paperwork to recall Scott Walker because Walker has lied to the people of Wisconsin and is destroying our state.  Walker has taken away the rights of workers, is destroying our education system, and is selling our state to the big corporations that put him in office.

This is a rare step that our state has not taken before, but Walker's actions leave us no choice -- we cannot take one more day of Walker as Governor.  I am proud to be one of the thousands of United Wisconsin supporters who have pledged to recall Walker, and I am filing this on their behalf and for the thousands of Wisconsin residents who have been hurt by Scott Walker.

I have not been involved in politics before, but Walker's actions have motivated me to stand up for my state.

I look forward to standing with the hundreds of thousands of Wisconsin residents who will be joining me in signing the petitions to recall Scott Walker.

In the interest of being complete, I should note that on 18 November 2011 there was a third filing.  The third was by Randall Bryce for Wisconsin Common Sense Citizens for Accountability and Recall aka Recall Walker PAC.

Deceptions have consequences.

More details of how Wisconsin recalls work and filings to recall other politicians can be found at the Government Accountability Board.

The last bit on this for today is a strange article on Channel 3000, a Madison WI news outlet.

Wisconsin military personnel based outside the state can sign recall petitions when they're home for the holidays.

A spokesman for the state Government Accountability board said military personnel can sign if they're an eligible voter and list their last Wisconsin address on the petition.

So, it appears that Mr. Walker wanted to deny the right to sign petitions to Wisconsin citizens in the military.  As I have expressed in a series of posts on voting rights, to deny citizens the right to vote, and now to deny civic participation to our military, is unAmerican.

16 November 2011, Original Pedantic Political Ponderings post.

4 December 2011, FollowUp 2.
11 December 2011, FollowUp 3.
14 December 2011, FollowUp 4.
15 December 2011, FollowUp 5.
30 December 2011, FollowUp 6.
13 January 2012, FollowUp 7.
17 January 2012, FollowUp 8.
25 January 2012, FollowUp 9.
2 February 2012, FollowUp 10.
9 February 2012, FollowUp 11.
12 February 2012, FollowUp 12.
18 February 2012, FollowUp 13.
22 February 2012, FollowUp 14.
6 March 2012, FollowUp 15.
12 March 2012, FollowUp 16.
16 March 2012, FollowUp 17.
30 March 2012, FollowUp 18.
31 March 2012, FollowUp 19.
3 April 2012, FollowUp 20.
4 April 2012, FollowUp 21.
11 April 2012, FollowUp 22.
14 April 2012, FollowUp 23.
17 April 2012, FollowUp 24.
21 April 2012, FollowUp 25.
29 April 2012, FollowUp 26.
2 May 2012, FollowUp 27.
6 May 2012, FollowUp 28.
10 May 2012, FollowUp 29.
13 May 2012, FollowUp 30.
23 May 2012, FollowUp 31.
24 May 2012, FollowUp 32.
30 May 2012, FollowUp 33.
2 June 2012, FollowUp 34.
4 June 2012, FollowUp 35.
5 June 2012, FollowUp 36.