Posts Tagged ‘Wisconsin Recall Elections’

Media Trackers

The Case For Recall Reform In Wisconsin

by Media Trackers

Since February, recall elections have been on the minds of nearly everyone in Wisconsin.

And while the diehards on the Left continue to spout off about recalling Scott Walker, most Wisconsinites are fatigued and a bit overwhelmed by the whole recall experience. Democrats failed in their goal to take the majority in the Senate. Republicans failed to unseat Democratic senators that fled the state.

In the wake of last week’s recall election, Republican Rep. Robin Vos proposed recall reform legislation. Vos’ bill would force recall committees to provide “a statement of reason related to the official responsibilities of the person being recalled.” Currently, Wisconsin is only 1 of 19 states that allow legislative recalls, and the current process does not require a reason for state officials. According to Vos, “it (the recalls) undermines our democracy and wastes precious taxpayer dollars that are needed elsewhere.”

As mentioned, the current law on recalls for state officials does not require a reason. Recall committees must only gather enough signatures (one quarter of the total votes in the governor’s race in that district) within the 60-day time frame and a recall election is triggered.

In two cases, one Republican and one Democrat, the candidate did not even gain as many votes as signatures on the recall petition.

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Der Kommissar

Comrades! Failure Is Victory! The ‘Middle Class’ Has Declared War on America and Will Not Be Defeated!

by Der Kommissar

Last night was a stunning success for the heroic middle class and for organized labor! Progressives seized control of two Republican state senate seats in Wisconsin–one of the few times in American history that a recall election has been successful, and on so grand a scale!

And that’s just the beginning. We are going to recall that pathetic Koch addict, so-called “governor” Scott Walker, as well! We are on the march to total victory!

True, we lost four of the other six recall elections yesterday. True, we failed to win the third seat necessary to take control of the state senate and begin rolling back Walker’s devastating attack on workers’ rights. True, we spent $30 million, much of it taken from the hard-earned dues of our members. True, we must now rally our exhausted and rather demoralized ground troops to defend two shaky Democrat-held seats next week.

Comrades–these failures point to the far greater victory that we achieved last night! We defended the “middle class” against evil corporations and Tea Party terrorists! We stood up to a tsunami of Citizens United-enabled outside money, and unleashed our own flood of Citizens United-enabled outside money! We rallied a huge crowd of red-shirted thugs at Ed Schultz’s live election coverage on MSNBC, smashing any pretense at objectivity!

Don’t you see what that means? We have sent a clear message to the nation: we are so fanatically devoted to the progressive cause that even losing elections will not deter us! The radical left and the public-sector unions have taken control of the Democratic party, and we are willing to destroy it in order to save it! We, the revolutionary vanguard of the middle class proletariat, have declared war on America–and we will not be defeated!

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Brett Healy

Dems Fail to Take Wisconsin Senate

by Brett Healy

Four of the six Republican State Senators up for recall elections in Wisconsin won on Tuesday, thwarting Democratic efforts to gain control of the State Senate.

MacIver News’ Bill Osmulski reports from Milwaukee


Media Trackers

Fraud Inundates Wisconsin Senate Recall

by Media Trackers

Milwaukee – Imitating the infamous “smokes for votes” scandal of the 2000 election, a small leftwing Wisconsin front group has been caught handing out barbecue chicken dinners to those who vote early in the Wisconsin recall elections. During the 2000 campaign a wealthy liberal activist was caught passing out cigarettes to Milwaukee’s homeless in exchange for their vote in the all-important presidential election. Over a decade later, Wisconsin Jobs Now!, a small group sponsored by the union umbrella Citizen Action of Wisconsin, hosted “block parties” in northern Milwaukee and essentially paid citizens to vote.

According to Wisconsin state law, it is illegal for anyone to pay or otherwise give someone something to induce or encourage them vote or not vote in an election. As the most recent round of Wisconsin Jobs Now! “block parties” took place on Monday, August 1, a Media Trackers source shared what happened. Voters were handed a ticket for the barbecue dinner and a raffle ticket after they signed in to the event. At some point each voter was asked to board a van with the organization’s logo emblazoned on the side. The vans ran round-trip transportation between the neighborhood party and Milwaukee City Hall, where there is an early voting location.

The shenanigans did not stop with the food and prizes give-away back at the party. Once voters were hustled upstairs in the City Hall to the election commission office, union volunteers affiliated with Wisconsin Jobs Now! carefully explained how the process would work. Because Wisconsin Jobs Now! has clearly aligned themselves on their website and in public statements with the partisan campaign of Rep. Sandy Pasch, their presence inside the polling place violated state electioneering laws. That was strike two.

As that wasn’t enough, Media Trackers unearthed last week that Rep. Sandy Pasch (D) the liberal candidate running against Sen. Alberta Darling (R) (who supported Gov. Walker’s collective bargaining reforms) sits on the board of Citizen Action of Wisconsin. Translated, that means that the front group helping the liberal candidate is sponsored by the union umbrella organization that the same liberal senate candidate and incumbent state representative sits on the board of.

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