Repeal of Michigan emergency manager law could go to ballot after 200K signatures gathered

By Suzette Hackney andMatt Helms/Detroit Free Press

A citizens group fighting to overturn the state’s emergency manager law announced this afternoon that they have enough signatures to have the question placed on the November general election ballot.

The group collected 203,238 valid voter signatures – more than 40,000 more than the 161,305 that were required, leaders of Stand Up for Democracy say a state official has reported. The group has been working to repeal Public Act 4, which gives Gov. Rick Snyder sweeping authority to appoint emergency managers to oversee troubled cities or school districts.

“This is an important step in the effort to stand up for democracy in Michigan,” Herb Sanders, director of the coalition, said in a press release today. “This report clearly shows that people across the state want the opportunity to vote to repeal the emergency manager dictator law. Now it is up to the State Board of Canvassers to honor the democratic process and let the people vote.”  Fred Woodhams, spokesman for Secretary of State Ruth Johnson, said today that the Bureau of Elections staff reviewed the signatures, selecting random signatures for verification, and will notify the Board of Canvassers that the petition group raised enough signatures to proceed.

“It's not an official determination,” Woodhams said, but the elections staff examination “found that there’s a sufficient number of valid signatures filed” for the issue to appear on the ballot.

While the number of signatures hasn’t been questioned, Woodhams said, the size of the type used on the petition forms was challenged as improper.

On Thursday the Michigan Board of Canvassers is expected to meet in Lansing to decide whether the petition will be placed on the November ballot.

“It’s entirely up to the Board of Canvassers” whether the font size issue is enough to stop the petition, Woodhams said.

On April 4, Detroit and the state entered into a consent agreement that gave state officials significant power to dictate the city’s financial future. Snyder and city officials said the agreement was put in place to avoid the appointment of an emergency manager. Detroit officials opted to call the pact a financial stability agreement in an effort to avoid any connection with, or adoption of, Public Act 4 language.

Terry Stanton, spokesman for state Treasurer Andy Dillon, said the governor and other state officials believe that even if Public Act 4 of 2011 is ultimately overturned, previous laws on the books would provide enough legal groundwork for much of the consent agreement to stand.

“The administration’s position has been and continues to be that if P.A. 4 is suspended then pending a statewide vote, Public Act 72 of 1990 would be revived,” Stanton said today, and that law gives the state and city many of the same powers to create a consent deal.

Detroit Mayor Dave Bing's office said: “We understand there are outstanding issues in the certification of the petitions, but if Public Act 4 is successfully challenged, we'll simply follow the law as we have all along."

Stanton said Snyder’s staff also believes emergency managers appointed for cities including Pontiac and Flint and school districts in Detroit, Highland Park and Muskegon Heights also would stay in place without Public Act 4.

Greg Bowens, a spokesman for Stand Up for Democracy, the group that coordinated the signature gathering, said that, even before a formal decision is made on challenges to the petition, the group’s success at gathering more than 40,000 signatures above the minimum needed was a significant win.

“There were people who didn’t believe we would get enough signatures to begin with,” Bowens said. “It was an all-volunteer effort.”

Bowens said the group believes challenges to the petition, including wording and font size, will not lead to it being rejected Thursday. He said the group believes it is in substantial compliance with state requirements for petitions to be considered valid.

Bowens said Stand Up for Democracy, backed by groups including Michigan Forward, the NAACP, the Sugar Law Center for Economic and Social Justice and labor unions, disagrees with the Snyder administration on what should happen if the issue wins approval by the state Board of Canvassers on Thursday.

“Once they vote to certify, the law is suspended, and emergency managers can no longer operate,” Bowens said. “For all intents and purpose they should cease and desist until the people have the right to vote on the law” in November.

It’s all about the politics for Rick Snyder

Christine/Blogging for Michigan

It’s not that I’m surprised that Rick Snyder is a hack. I just never get used to how easy it is to point it out.

Friday’s Gongwer (10/28/11) reports that Rick Snyder is out campaigning for Paul Scott, trying to prevent the little anti-education, anti-worker, lying sack-o-crap from losing his seat in the upcoming recall election.

Mr. Snyder said the focus for now should be keeping Mr. Scott (R-Grand Blanc) in office. Then the Legislature should take up recall reform. … he said he has concerns about how lawmakers might react should voters oust Mr. Scott.”

In short, Rick Snyder wants to “send the message that this isn’t a good exercise.”

It’s nice to see Rick Snyder expressing his opinion on something, isn’t it? It just doesn’t happen often enough. For example, when he was asked his position on auto insurance reform, he refused to answer. “I want to respect the legislative process.” (Gongwer, 10/18/11)

It’s nice to see that he “respects” the legislative process. He surely doesn’t respect the election process or the will of the voters. “Mr. Scott” might lose his seat, and the legislators might react to that.

Oh, and don’t forget that Snyder tried to interfere with the State Supreme Court decision on this recall too. So it looks like Snyder doesn’t respect our legal system either.

Embattled Wisconsin Republicans court Rep. Paul Ryan’s support in recall fight

By Eric W. Dolan

Wisconsin Republican state senators are seeking Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI), author of the proposed Republican budget plan, to join their fundraising efforts as they face recall elections.

Ryan, chairman of the House Budget Committee, is one of thefeatured attendees of a fundraiser this Friday for recently recalled Republican state Sen. Albert Darling of Milwaukee. Wisconsin Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald (R), Gov. Scott Walker (R), and U.S Senator Ron Johnson (R-WI) are also among the featured guests at the event, which charges $30 for admission.

Another Republican state senator, Dan Kapanke of La Crosse, previously invited Ryan to a fundraiser in May, but Ryan was unable to attend because of a family event.

The liberal groups Progressive Change Campaign Committee and Democracy For America have raised over $200,000 as part of a media campaign to oust the Republican state senators Kapanke, Darling and Randy Hopper of Green Bay. They said Ryan's invitation to these fundraisers shows that the embattled senators support the U.S. congressman's budget cutting agenda.

"Alberta Darling is part of the same national Republican war on working families that is trying to end Medicare and cut programs like BadgerCare," Neil Sroka, PCCC spokesman, said. "Paul Ryan's endorsement of her will be an issue in this campaign."

A survey conducted by the Democrat-affiliated firm Public Policy Polling in May found that a majority of voters in Wisconsin had an unfavorable view of Ryan, whose budget proposal includes privatizing Medicare. Forty-six percent had an unfavorable view of the U.S. congressman, compared to 41 percent who had a favorable view.

The Wisconsin Elections Board has certified recall elections this summer for six Republican state senators and three Democratic state senators.

Recall elections approved for 6 Wisconsin Republicans

By David Edwards

The Wisconsin Government Accountability Board Tuesday approved recall elections for three Republicans, bringing the total number to six. At the same time, the nonpartisan election officials put the recall elections of three Democrats on hold.

Recall elections for Republican state Sens. Rob Cowles, Alberta Darling and Sheila Harsdorf were unanimously approved. The board had previously approved recall elections for Republican state Sens. Randy Hopper, Dan Kapanke and Luther Olsen.

Republicans cried foul after the board put off a decision on recall elections for Democratic state Sens. Bob Wirch, Dave Hansen and Jim Holperin.

"This is an example of a supposedly neutral government agency acting in a blatantly partisan manner to further the objectives of a particular political party," Dan Hunt, who led the recall effort against Wirch, toldThe Wisconsin Journal Sentinel.

Board attorney Shane Falk explained that the decision on Democratic recall elections had been delayed because Democrats raised legal objections that the board had not dealt with before.

Democrats have charged that Republicans forged signatures on recall petitions as well as paying voterswith alcohol to sign petitions.

Falk said that Republicans had brought the same challenges as they had recall elections that had already been approved.

We've attempted to work concurrently on all the petitions but we simply don't have enough staff," Falk told the board.

"We have a biased body that has no check or balance with the voters," David VanderLeest, who plans to run against Democrat Dave Hansen, complained.

The accountability board was created by a Democratic Senate and Republican Assembly in 2007 to oversee elections without partisanship.

"I've never seen any hint of partisan bias," University of Wisconsin-Madison political science professor David Canon told the Journal Sentinel. "They absolutely try to oversee Wisconsin election laws fairly."

The board planned to ask a judge Wednesday for an additional week to approve the Democratic recall elections.

If things go as planned, the Republican recall elections would be held July 12. If there is more than one challenger in any race, July 12 would be a primary and Aug. 9 would be the general election.

Democratic recall elections would be held July 19. The court will have the final say over the schedule

Wisconsin Democrats nearly halfway to recalling GOP state senators

By Eric W. Dolan

Almost half of the signatures needed to recall key Republican Wisconsin state senators have been collected by the Wisconsin Democratic Party.

Democrats have collected over 56,000 signatures supporting a recall of eight state senators who aligned themselves with Republican Gov. Scott Walker's controversial budget repair bill,The Washington Post reported.

"This morning citizens from around the state took the first steps by filing recall papers against key Republican Senators who have stood with Scott Walker and pushed his partisan power grab that will strip thousands of middle class teachers, nurses, librarians and other workers of their right to collective bargaining," theWisconsin Democratic Party said in an email two weeks ago.

Under Wisconsin law, any elected official who has served at least one year of their current term can be recalled from office. Eight Republican and eight Democratic senators are currently eligible to be recalled. Gov. Walker, who was inaugurated last January, will not be eligible for a recall until 2012.

Democrats need to collect 25 percent of the number who voted in the last gubernatorial election within 60 days of filing for recalls.

Protesters learned Sunday that Wisconsin state senator Randy Hopper's wife reportedly intends to sign the recall petition against him.

The Republican State Leadership Committee (RSLC) has vowed to defend the state senators and Republicans have launched their own recall campaign against eight Democratic state senators, but haverefused to reveal the amount of signatures they’ve collected.

Republicans currently have a 19 to 14 majority in the Wisconsin Senate.

Wisconsin Voters Launch Recall Campaign Against Eight GOP State Senators

By Ian Millhiser

Last month, ThinkProgress reported that Wisconsin law allows any elected official who has served at least one year of their current term to be recalled from office. Today, a group of Wisconsin voters took the first step towards invoking this recall process. According to a Wisconsin Democratic Party e-mail that was obtained by ThinkProgress:

This morning citizens from around the state took the first steps by filing recall papers against key Republican Senators who have stood with Scott Walker and pushed his partisan power grab that will strip thousands of middle class teachers, nurses, librarians and other workers of their right to collective bargaining. And we learned just last night that their disastrous budget that will cut millions from our schools and universities. . . .

Make no mistake, these Republican Senators are vulnerable to recall for their radical partisan overreach. Senator Randy Hopper won his last election by just 184 votes. And Alberta Darling won her last race by only 1,007. By recalling just three of the eight Senators [Democrats] are targeting, [Democrats] can regain control of the Senate.

Under Wisconsin law, supporters of this recall effort now have 60 days to collect an amount of signatures “equal to at least 25% of the vote cast for the office of governor at the last election within the same district or territory as that of the officeholder being recalled.” The amount of signatures necessary to trigger a recall will vary from district to district, but will range from about 15,000 to 21,000 signatures per recalled senator.

If the supporters succeed in collecting enough signatures, the result is an effective “do over” election. The incumbent will automatically be a candidate in the election unless they resign from office, and Democrats and members of other political parties will be allowed to nominate opponents. The winner of a recall election is seated as soon as the election result is certified.

Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker (R), who was inaugurated last January, will be eligible for a recall in January of 2012.

UPDATEThe SEIU has signed onto the recall effort as well.

UPDATEThe Chair of the Wisconsin Democratic Party suggests that his Party willcontinue to back this recall effort even if the eight targeted senators offer to withdraw their support for Gov. Walker's anti-union bill in order to quell the recall campaign:

Asked if Wisconsin Dems would drop their push to recall senators if they abandoned the drive to roll back public employee bargaining rights. Tate said he couldn't guarantee that, arguing that Walker's proposed budget cuts yesterday took this fight to a whole new level. "In the past 24 hours, this has gotten so much larger than the rights of our public employees," he said. "This is much larger now than it was a week ago."

Eight GOP State Senators In Wisconsin Can Be Recalled Right Now; Gov. Walker Can Be Recalled In January

By Ian Millhiser

All this week, thousands of protesters have stormed the Wisconsin capitol in opposition to Gov. Scott Walker’s (R) plan to cut public employee pay and weaken or eliminate state workers’ collective bargaining rights. Many of them chanted “recall Walker,” as these protesters in Madison did Tuesday:

Yet Walker, who cannot be recalled from office until next January, is not the only official who could be the subject of a recall election. Under Wisconsin election law, any elected official may be recalled from office:

(a) The qualified electors of the state, of any county, city, village, or town, of any congressional, legislative, judicial, town sanitary, or school district, or of any prosecutorial unit may petition for the recall of any incumbent elective official by filing a petition with the same official or agency with whom nomination papers or declarations of candidacy for the office are filed demanding the recall of the officeholder.

(b) Except as provided in par. (c), a petition for recall of an officer shall be signed by electors equal to at least 25% of the vote cast for the office of governor at the last election within the same district or territory as that of the officeholder being recalled. . . .

(s) No petition for recall of an officer may be offered for filing prior to the expiration of one year after commencement of the term of office for which the officer is elected.

Because the recall statute allows elected officials to serve for a full year before they are subject to recall, Walker himself is immune until January of 2012. Eight of Walker’s Republican allies in the state senate have served at least one year of their current term, however, and thus are eligible for a recall petition right now. If just three of these Republicans were to be replaced with Democrats, the state senate would flip to a Democratic-majority body.

The eight Republicans who can be recalled right now are:

• Robert Cowles
• Alberta Darling
• Sheila Harsdorf
• Luther Olsen
• Randy Hopper
• Glenn Grothman
• Mary Lazich
• Dan Kapanke

When next January rolls around, a little over 500,000 petition signatures will be necessary to trigger a recall election for Gov. Walker.

UPDATEAn e-mailer asks how many signatures are required to trigger a recall election for an individual senator. The exact number will vary by district according to how many people cast a vote for governor in that district, but if you divide the approximately 500,000 signatures needed to recall Walker by the 33 senate districts, it adds up to between 15,000-16,000 signatures per senator.