Tuesday, Nov. 22, 2011
Issue of the Week: The Legitimate Recall
Plus Hero of the Week
In the past few weeks we've heard all kinds of opposition to the recalls of Gov. Scott Walker, Lt. Gov. Rebecca Kleefisch and four Republican state senators. The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel continued to provide aid and comfort to Walker's flagging career by denouncing the recalls as being about one issue—once again showing that the editorial board is completely out of touch with the majority of Wisconsin residents. Walker also attempted to argue that the recalls aren't about him—talk about being out of touch!—while jetting around the country raising unlimited funds from his elite corporate sponsors. It's a far cry from the Scott Walker of the past who had supported attempted recalls against his political foes, whether it was Jim Doyle or Tom Ament. Now, Walker sees recalls as the work of an uninformed mob.
But despite Walker and the Journal Sentinel's tag-team attack on Wisconsin voters, the recalls are enthusiastically under way in every corner of the state. Voters who couldn't participate in the summer's recalls of state senators are signing their names to the Walker and Kleefisch petitions—with relish.
Not everything is rosy, though. Organizers must sign up more than 8,000 people a day—not an insurmountable task, but not an easy one, either.
Walker and Kleefisch supporters have also attempted to distribute misinformation about the recall process. State Treasurer Kurt Schuller took time out of his day shilling for the Koch brothers to Tweet incorrect information about signing petitions. Other Walker supporters have said they would collect signatures and then destroy them. That's a felony, by the way.
So how can you be sure that your petition circulator is legit and your signature will be counted?
First, go to www.unitedwisconsin.com or www.RecallWalkerHQ.com, where you'll find a list of recall offices all over the state. You can contact a local office to determine a convenient way for you to sign the petition.
You can also download recall petitions to sign or circulate. Remember that Walker and Kleefisch must be recalled separately, so if you want them both to be recalled, sign petitions for both of them. (They're included in the downloaded material on the websites.)
If you want to sign on to the recall of Walker and Kleefisch, you need only to be a Wisconsin resident who is qualified to vote. You do not need to be a registered voter to sign the recall petition. If you want to circulate petitions for Walker or Kleefisch recalls, you must be eligible to vote in Wisconsin.
If you want to recall a state senator, you must reside in his or her district.
You can download a recall petition, sign it as a petitioner and a circulator and turn it into the recall organizers. You do not have to fill out more than one signature line on a petition. No one needs to witness your signature. It does not need to be notarized.
If you are circulating recall petitions, follow the instructions on the petition packet. They must be turned in to your local organizer or mailed to the recall committee before Jan. 10, 2012.
If someone approaches you with a petition and you are unsure about whether that petition circulator is legitimate or not, you can sign the petition. Later, you can contact one of the recall organizations to find out if your name has been added to their database of signers. If it has not, you can go to one of the recall offices and sign a different petition, since the organizers will strike duplicate signatures from the database.
Don't let anyone intimidate you, harass you or deny you your constitutional right to recall your elected officials.
Heroes of the Wee: Vision Forward Volunteers
The Badger Association of the Blind and Visually Impaired formed in 1919. Nearly 100 years later, in 2010, it merged with the Center for Blind and Visually Impaired Children to become the Vision Forward Association, an organization committed to helping the blind and visually impaired to achieve economic, social and personal self-sufficiency from birth through adulthood. The nonprofit offers support services, vision rehabilitation, housing options and recreational opportunities for adults at its facilities at 912 N. Hawley Road. Programs for children and their families, including education and therapy services, are also offered.
Volunteers are an integral part of Vision Forward's success in providing services, programs and classes to thousands of individuals and families each year. Readers interested in donating their time as drivers, guides/assistants, or general office help are encouraged to call 414-615-0103 or visit www.vision-forward.org.
But despite Walker and the Journal Sentinel's tag-team attack on Wisconsin voters, the recalls are enthusiastically under way in every corner of the state. Voters who couldn't participate in the summer's recalls of state senators are signing their names to the Walker and Kleefisch petitions—with relish.
Not everything is rosy, though. Organizers must sign up more than 8,000 people a day—not an insurmountable task, but not an easy one, either.
Walker and Kleefisch supporters have also attempted to distribute misinformation about the recall process. State Treasurer Kurt Schuller took time out of his day shilling for the Koch brothers to Tweet incorrect information about signing petitions. Other Walker supporters have said they would collect signatures and then destroy them. That's a felony, by the way.
So how can you be sure that your petition circulator is legit and your signature will be counted?
First, go to www.unitedwisconsin.com or www.RecallWalkerHQ.com, where you'll find a list of recall offices all over the state. You can contact a local office to determine a convenient way for you to sign the petition.
You can also download recall petitions to sign or circulate. Remember that Walker and Kleefisch must be recalled separately, so if you want them both to be recalled, sign petitions for both of them. (They're included in the downloaded material on the websites.)
If you want to sign on to the recall of Walker and Kleefisch, you need only to be a Wisconsin resident who is qualified to vote. You do not need to be a registered voter to sign the recall petition. If you want to circulate petitions for Walker or Kleefisch recalls, you must be eligible to vote in Wisconsin.
If you want to recall a state senator, you must reside in his or her district.
You can download a recall petition, sign it as a petitioner and a circulator and turn it into the recall organizers. You do not have to fill out more than one signature line on a petition. No one needs to witness your signature. It does not need to be notarized.
If you are circulating recall petitions, follow the instructions on the petition packet. They must be turned in to your local organizer or mailed to the recall committee before Jan. 10, 2012.
If someone approaches you with a petition and you are unsure about whether that petition circulator is legitimate or not, you can sign the petition. Later, you can contact one of the recall organizations to find out if your name has been added to their database of signers. If it has not, you can go to one of the recall offices and sign a different petition, since the organizers will strike duplicate signatures from the database.
Don't let anyone intimidate you, harass you or deny you your constitutional right to recall your elected officials.
Heroes of the Wee: Vision Forward Volunteers
The Badger Association of the Blind and Visually Impaired formed in 1919. Nearly 100 years later, in 2010, it merged with the Center for Blind and Visually Impaired Children to become the Vision Forward Association, an organization committed to helping the blind and visually impaired to achieve economic, social and personal self-sufficiency from birth through adulthood. The nonprofit offers support services, vision rehabilitation, housing options and recreational opportunities for adults at its facilities at 912 N. Hawley Road. Programs for children and their families, including education and therapy services, are also offered.
Volunteers are an integral part of Vision Forward's success in providing services, programs and classes to thousands of individuals and families each year. Readers interested in donating their time as drivers, guides/assistants, or general office help are encouraged to call 414-615-0103 or visit www.vision-forward.org.
Gee, anonymous, only people like you who were fired by "the man" you once worked for need to fund your pension on your own, it's called being IN BUSINESS FOR YOURSELF.
The rest of us who agreed to provide more value to our employer than what our employer pays us on our W2 statement often get a match on our 401(k), we contribute some, they match some. And in the old days it was an actual pension paid for by our employer (private, too. not just public). It's called the TOTAL COMPENSATION PACKAGE, did not matter if it was negotiated in by a union or negotiated individually by a healthy, free market "supply and demand" of our employable skills, and the employers need for those skills.
Group A can start a petition, have an army of volunteers collecting signatures. Group B can do the same, collecting signatures for the same cause. -- But, when it comes time to hand the petitions over to the GAB, they cannot take the total verified count from Group A and add it to the total verified count from Group B. Each group's count must be able to pass the mark ON ITS OWN. It only takes one group to pass that mark to trigger the recall election.
If you KNOW which group your petition was from, your 2nd or 3rd signature to the same group is not going to help. Your 1st signature on that other group's petition will help that other group, won't help on the 1st group that you signed on. If you do not know which group you signed, you can sign again, just in case it was different group.
The advice here to go to the groups listed in the article is a good one, just to make sure you are not signing a fake. I'm sure counterfeiting is going to happen (is that a felony too?), so the article's advice to sign them all is just going to be insurance.
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Next question... who is going to be the candidate that runs against the Scott and Becky team, the one that the liberal-minded Blue counties can agree on along with the working class members of the Red counties? (each thinks the other side is the enemy)
Example -- the Republicans will try hard to split the opposition, like how Obama won. The Republicans were so dead set against Hillary, but confident that a black man will never beat a white man in the November election. Fearing that Hillary would beat McCain, a huge number of red voters crossed party lines in the primary to vote for Obama, ensuring Hillary was knocked out.
You are absolutely incorrect. The GAB has made it clear that they will not have (or deploy) the resources necessary to weed out duplicate signatures. When you advocate for signing multiple petitions, you are simply advocating for cheating- in the hopes that multiple signatures from the same person will be overlooked and counted.
It is truly incredible that the left is allowed to openly advocate for vote fraud. Incredible, but not surprising. You must realize that any crediblility you might think you have when it comes to the voter ID issue is destroyed when you openly suggest that people sign more than one recall petition. But then, to be a liberal is to be a hypocrite, so again, this is not surprising.