Petitions For WI Gov. Walker Recall Rolling In On First Day Of Filing

By Chuck Sudo in News on Jan 17, 2012 9:20PM

The petition drive to force a recall of Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker has reached the “put up or shut up” phase. The organizers spearheading the recall effort in America’s Dairlyland, United Wisconsin, released a statement claiming to have gathered over one million signatures, which “represent(s) the most-participated-in major recall effort in American history, and a number so significant that it is beyond any legal challenge.”

Only 540,208 signatures are needed to force a recall election, but United Wisconsin say the numbers they amassed are necessary for the expected petition challenge to be filed by Walker. They also claim to have amassed enough signatures to force recall elections of Wisconsin Lt. Gov. Rebecca Kleefisch, State Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald and three other GOP State Senators.

The seeming GOP backlash is a result of Walker’s attempts to strip labor unions of their collective bargaining power in Wisconsin. Last year, the General Assembly voted to strip unions of their collective bargaining rights. That vote was later struck down by a Wisconsin circuit court. Walker, who was in New York for a fundraiser, repeated his stance that the recall effort was “baseless.”

The petitions' signatures will take at least a couple of months to be verified. If the petitions are certified, a spring election will be set for a recall election, unless Walker and his supporters file any other legal challenges.