Wisconsin Government Accountability Board Okays Three Recall Petitions

[Madison, Wisc…] At a hearing Monday morning, the Wisconsin Government Accountability Board certified the recall petitions for Senators Olsen, Kapanke, and Hopper.

Some insiders consider these three Senators to be the most vulnerable in a recall election.

At the hearing legal counsel for the three Republican Senators stated the petitions were not valid. The lawyers argued that the individual who signed the statement of intent to recall should also be the person who filed the official recall committee registration paperwork. GAB rejected that argument.

The counsel also attempted to challenge a number of signatures on the petitions. They argued some of the signatures were duplicates, did not include an address, or were added after the deadline on May 2^nd. However, even had GAB tossed all those signatures, there would still have been enough to certify the petitions.

Now that the petitions have been certified, GAB will file the petitions between May31st and June 3^rd. GAB will also hold a hearing on six more recall petitions on May 31^st. Those involve Republic Senators Cowles, Darling, and Harsdorf, and Democrat Senators Holperin, Hansen and Wirch.

The recall elections will then take place on July 12^th, unless there are primaries involved. In that case the affected elections will take place on August 9^th.