The recall committees have set deadlines for the turnin of petitions.
They are: Tues, Jan. 10 — The deadline for mailing petitions to: PO Box 2569, Madison, Wis., 53701
Fri., Jan. 13 — The last day to drop off petitions at recall offices. Most offices will then be shuttered after this date. Sat., Jan 14 through noon, Jan. 16 — A grace period for the dropoff of petitions, where remaining recall petitions may be dropped off at the recall Madison field office, 6602 Normandy Lane, Madison, Wis., 53719.
Tues., Jan 17 — The recall petitions will be submitted to the Government Accountabilty Board. Details of press availability to follow.
Ending collection of petitions a few days before we turn them in allows us valuable time to sort and process in a way that will ensure easy processing by the GAB.
Recall numbers updates
There will be no updates on the number of signatures collected for any of the recall committees until Tuesday, Jan. 17. Anyone who sees numbers before that date can rest assured that they are not viewing accurate numbers. Various blogs and other outlets have, in the course of their reporting, received erroneous information that they believe has been leaked to them. Mostly, this is part of an earnest desire to report on an historic moment. But there also is extant games-playing by Scott Walker defenders who are seeking to manage expectations to their favor. After previously downplaying the possibility for recall elections being triggered, they are now trying to spin ANY number turned in by the recall coalition as some kind of failure. Another phenomenon are well-meaning volunteers who are leaking raw numbers of signatures versus the actual number of signatures that will be submitted after vetting. That latter total is under lock-and-key and will not be released beyond a secure group of data workers until the last hour. The success of our efforts hinge in part on the security and integrity measures we have employed.
A note on collective bargaining claims
When reporting on the recall movement, it is absolutely incorrect to state as a matter of fact that this is solely or even mainly the result of Walker’s attack on collective bargaining for public employees. While we have always acknowledged that as the Original Sin, the breadth and depth of the movement, which will be revealed to you on Jan. 17, AND credible public polling, shows that there is much more to it than that. Without going through the litany, it is a rejection of an abuse of power and the feeling by many-including plenty of Republicans, independents and non-union members-that Wisconsin was lied to. Scott Walker’s defenders have framed this merely about collective bargaining and public employees, so furthering that meme without qualification amounts to carrying partisan water.
What about the, “original” Scott Walker Recall?
Jan 4, marked the 60-day deadline of the “first” recall to Scott Walker, which actually was when Scott Walker recalled himself. In sham fashion, a Scott Walker supporter filed recall petitions to trigger the period in which Walker could raise unlimited, unregulated amounts of sleazy corporate cash. We are sure that the responsible press will see just how far this Waukesha Republican got toward his goal. Was he telling the truth in the first place? Or was this, as we maintain, just another in the long list of Scott Walker’s dirty tricks to fend off accountability from the fed-up people of Wisconsin? Inquiring minds want to know.
