The effort to recall Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker begins today, and organizers and volunteers are readying their clipboards to begin collecting more than half a million signatures throughout the holiday season. But as volunteers celebrated the launch at midnight "recall-themed" pajama parties, the many challenges ahead were underscored by a deliberate, grinch-like cyber-attack on a key recall website.
Recall On
The recall officially began at 12:01 a.m. today, November 14. As children were nestled snugly in their beds, anti-Walker activists donned their kerchiefs, caps, and pajamas to kick off the recall at midnight parties across the state. But volunteers will not be settling in for a long winter's nap. The first step of the process will require recall supporters to collect 540,208 signatures -- one quarter of the number of votes cast in Walker's election -- inside a 60 day window, November 15, 2011 through January 17, 2011. It's up to the Government Accountability Board (GAB), Wisconsin's election referee and the arbitrator of the recall process, to make sure the signatures are valid. Organizers say they are aiming for at least 650,000 signatures because of the likelihood some will be disqualified. The GAB's recall guidelines are available here.
Petition circulators will need to collect about 77,000 signatures a week or nearly 11,000 a day. To meet this goal, a variety of pro-recall groups will be allowed to coordinate their efforts during the 60 day signature drive. Organizations like United Wisconsin (which formed in the past year in response to the governor's policies), We are Wisconsin (which is affiliated with labor unions), and the state Democratic Party will work together as the Committee to Recall Scott Walker. The coalition has opened thirty offices around the state and has reportedly trained 20,000 volunteer signature gatherers.
Organizers expect a huge influx of signatures immediately from eager opponents of the Governor, with large rallies planned for the weekend of the 19th in Madison and Milwaukee, and hundreds of circulators expected to be in attendance. After the initial burst of support, volunteers will fan out across the state to collect signatures door-to-door and at community events.
Proponents are also seeking to recall Lieutenant Governor Rebecca Kleefisch, which will require an equal number of signatures on a separate petition. Volunteers will have a third petition to circulate if they live in the districts of Senators Van Waangard (R-Racine), Terry Moulton (R-Chippewa Falls) or Pam Galloway (R-Wausau), all of whom are also up for recall. Petition gatherers will have to juggle as many as three separate clipboards and do it in the midst of dropping temperatures and the holiday rush.
The Grinch Who Stole the Recall
But the mischief in Wisconsin goes well beyond Jack Frost nipping noses, ears, and toes. Some individuals have made or threatened very serious, criminal acts to protect Governor Walker from recall.
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