Despite Some Issues with Petitions, Recalls Likely to Move Forward

This story originally appeared on the Caledonia Patch and was written by Denise Lockwood (Editor), March 10, 2012 at 03:05 AM

The head of the agency that oversees elections in Wisconsin says there have been some instances of fraudulent signatures found on the petitions seeking to recall Republican Gov. Scott Walker from office.
And with at least three outside groups going through the signatures looking for problems, Government Accountability Board Director Kevin Kennedy said his staff expects to hear even more allegations about possible fraud.

While the GAB and other agencies will investigate all such complaints, it's unlikely there will be enough of them to stop the recall from moving forward, Kennedy said in a memo released Friday.
"The highly polarized political atmosphere which has engendered the current recall initiatives has also generated a constant buzz of speculation about illegal activity with respect to the recall efforts," Kennedy wrote.
"This speculation has ranged from allegations of people signing a petition with a name other than their own, including fictitious characters, with made up addresses; claims of multiple signings by the same individual and threats of destruction of petition pages by opponents of the recall effort,"he added. "Both proponents and opponents of the recalls have spewed accusations through social media, email, voice mail, talk radio and the media."

The GAB has taken such allegations seriously, he noted, and is working with the state Department of Justice and district attorneys around Wisconsin to investigate such complaints.

However, "given the the large number of signatures over the required thresholds, it is not plausible to believe these complaints would have an impact on the ultimate sufficiency of the recall petitions," Kennedy said.
The effort to recall Walker, Lt. Gov. Rebecca Kleefisch, and four Republican state senators began on Nov. 15. More than 1 million gubernatorial recall signatures were turned into the GAB, which has spent the last two months verifying them. Recall organizers needed to collect about 540,000 valid signatures to force an election.

Kennedy's memo was part of a packet of documents released Friday by the GAB in advance of the board's meeting in Madison on Monday. In the documents, Kennedy and the GAB staff said there are enough valid signatures to move forward with the of Racine.

Kennedy also is recommending that the GAB on Monday ask a Dane County judge for more time to review the Walker recall petitions and proposed that recall elections be held in May and June.

In Kenney's memo, GAB officials reported that they investigated a claim made by an unidentified Milwaukee man who said he had signed the petition 80 times. The man’s name was referred to the Milwaukee County District Attorney’s Office, but the GAB never found that name on the petitions.

On the other hand, Mark Demet, of Racine was charged earlier this month with two felony counts of election fraud/nomination certification and seven felony counts of misappropriating identifying information for financial gain. If convicted on all charges, Demet faces up to 42 years in prison and fines up to $90,000. Kennedy reported that those signatures were thrown out.

A Caledonia man who is a Walker supporter also told Patch that he had and planned to burn them, but then he changed his mind. No law enforcement agency has requested the man's name.

Kennedy noted that recall organizers and the Republican Party of Wisconsin have set up websites and hotlines for people to register complaints about the recall process. Verify the Recall, a website that encouraged people to register their complaints, stated they intended to the help the GAB by offering an online searchable database of the signatures.

Kennedy said it was likely the GAB would get complaints from these sources and the agency intends to take those complaints seriously even though there may not be enough to stop the recall elections.
He said that the focus of an investigation should include whether the complaints represent “a pattern of activity or isolated events.” However, the specifics of those potential investigations will be discussed in closed session by the GAB.

Pro-Recall Group Outs Facebook Page That Boasts About Destroying Signatures

One Wisconsin Now calls on all recall supporters to be vigilant, but only one instance of actual recall destruction found.

Posted by Denise Lockwood (Editor) , November 23, 2011 at 12:56 PM, originally posted on the Caledonia Patch.

Wisconsin recall supporters outed an anonymous Facebook group called Operation Burn Notice on Tuesday as a coordinated effort designed to destroy petitions signed to force Gov. Scott Walker and other Wisconsin Republicans out of office. 

Scot Ross, executive director of One Wisconsin Now, denounced the anonymous group, in a Madison press conference.
"We cannot allow democracy to be threatened by those who would illegally destroy recall petitions with valid signatures on them," Ross said. "We intend to keep the public informed about its rights during the signature gathering process and alert those who would engage in illegal conduct that they do so at their own peril."
One Wisconsin Now, a pro-recall group, is offering a reward for anyone who outs a person destroying signatures. The group also wants the public to know the rules with regards to the recall petition process and released a memo addressing myths that have been circulating around the recall process.
Ross said the purpose of the reward was to get leads on people destroying petitions until Jan. 14, which is the date the recall committees have to turn in the petitions to the Government Accountability Board.
Destroying or defacing petitions is a felony, which carries a $10,000 fine and up to three-and-a-half years in jail.
The group, which said they are for a fair and clean election, also sent a letter to Ismael Ozanne, the Dane County District Attorney, which notified the office of a Facebook page called Operation Burn Notice.
The letter cited several Operation Burn Notice posts that bragged about having destroyed 148,764 signatures as of Sunday.
One post stated Saturday:

The fires have been extinguished and the ashes spread. It was a very good day for a Sunday. To date, Operation Burn Notice has destroyed over 11,000 "documents". Do the math, kiddies. First correct total of signatures gets the Sunday, weekly door-prize.

To date, only one instance of actual criminal activity has been reported to the authorities in Dane County, the rest of the reports have been on other blogs and included screen shots from Facebook pages of people talking about having destroyed petitions.
In response, the group is offering a reward that leads to the arrest and conviction of anyone destroying or defacing recall petitions from today through Jan. 14. The group will be taking affidavits from people who step forward and will turn those affidavits over to the appropriate district attorney, Ross said.
Last week, . Instead, they want people to think they've signed the petition, but not actually have their signatures count. The man, who asked not to have his name used, ultimately decided to turn them into the recall committee.

Man Who Allegedly Collected Phony Recall Signatures Charged

Racine County DA files nine felony counts against 59-year-old Racine man after he is accused of forging signatures on a petition to recall state Sen. Van Wanggaard.
Posted by Denise Lockwood (Editor) , February 28, 2012 at 03:27 PM, originally posted on the Caledonia Patch.

 A man accused of falsely writing in signatures on a petition to recall state Sen. Van Wanggaard — including one from a deceased person — faces nine felony charges.
Mark Demet, 59, of Racine, has been charged by the Racine County District Attorney's Office with two felony counts of election fraud/nomination certification and seven felony counts of misappropriating identifying information for financial gain. If convicted on all charges, Demet faces up to 42 years in prison and fines up to $90,000.
According to the criminal complaint, Demet admitted that he circulated the petition and signed the names of seven people on the petition. Investigators spoke to six of the people whose names appeared on the list to verify that they had not signed the petition.
Demet is expected to make an initial court appearance at 1:30 p.m. on March 13.
Randy Brandt, treasurer for the Committee to Recall Van Wanggaard, said Demet might have been planted to discredit the recall effort, but the criminal complaint doesn’t address that issue.
“The charges imply that money was somehow involved, but no one on the Committee knows him and I know we didn’t pay him,” Brandt said. “But I’m glad that the whole process is unfolding as it should. Someone who allegedly is trying to circumvent the petition process should be charged with the crimes. And it’s a pretty serious crime.”
Still Brandt believes Demet is either some sort of renegade or had some other motive.
Brandt emailed the Racine County Sheriff’s Department earlier this month, explaining that the committee members did not know Demet. Brandt acknowledged it is possible “that a small number of fictitious signatures could have been submitted by people with their own motives, and without our detection.”
He requested that the Sheriff’s Department find out what Demet’s motive was for writing in the signatures, but the criminal complaint doesn’t address the issue.

Tea Party member identifies problem

Ironically, a Wisconsin Tea Party member put two and two together in identifying the falsified signatures.
Citizens for Responsible Government of Racine is a blog written by Ken Brown, who is an active Racine County Tea Party member. Brown said he has a business relationship with Jeff Demet, Mark's brother. When he saw Jeff Demet's name on the petitions, he believed that Jeff didn't sign the petition (his name was listed four times) because the two had talked about politics. So he called Jeff.
"(Jeff) was pretty mad," Brown said. "I asked him if he knew this guy, Mark. He said, 'Yeah, he's my crazy brother.'"
Brown said he also spoke with Jason Adams, and Nick and Holley Gabey, who are Mark Demet's neighbors. They also said their signatures were forged, so Brown turned over the information to the Racine County District Attorney's Office.
Brown said the Citizens for Responsible Government of Racine is affiliated with Milwaukee's Citizens for Responsible Government, which spearheaded the recall of Milwaukee County Executive Tom Ament.
"They've been going after voter fraud and have been for over 12 years," Brown said. "They've worked along with Americans for Prosperity and the Wisconsin Tea Party."
Caledonia Patch called Mark Demet to get a statement, but his mother, Mary, said he was at work.
“I don’t think he wants to talk about this with anyone,” she said.
Demet also wasn't home when TMJ4 went to his house. The TV station aired a story last week about the irregularities on Demet's petitions. 
Demet apparently tried apologizing yesterday to his neighbor Jason Adams for his actions.
But Adams wanted nothing to do with it, he said.
“It doesn’t make it right in my book,” Adams said. “… It’s pretty serious to me and it’s touched a pretty heavy chord.”

Skirmish in Caledonia Over Walker Recall Petition Lands Women in Principal's Office

Caledonia police get called during a terse exchange between two women near Gifford Elementary School, but no citations were issued.
by Denise Lockwood (Editor) , December 09, 2011 at 12:31 PM, Originally posted on the Caledonia Patch.

Caledonia Police responded to a report of a person collecting petition signatures that was videotaping people and screaming at them at 1:04 p.m. Dec. 1, 2011 at Gifford School, 8332 Northwestern Avenue.
No incident report was officially filed and no tickets were issued because the incident was handled internally by officials with the Racine Unified School District.
According to a call detail report made the next day, the woman told police she was approached by a woman who had a "Recall Walker" sign in the window of her car. The recall supporter asked the woman to sign a recall petition, but the woman refused to sign it. The recall supporter yelled at the mom saying that she apparently “doesn’t believe in democracy” and the mom asked if the recall supporter had permission to be collecting signatures on school property. The recall supporter told the woman she didn’t need permission to collect signatures because the school is a public place.
The recall supporter then started videotaping the woman, who asked her to stop taping her.  The recall supporter told the woman that she could “videotape anyone she wants.” The woman went into the school and complained to the principal, who explained to the recall supporter that she couldn’t collect signatures on school property.  The school isn’t considered public property and is a taxpayer funded facility, which the Racine Unified School District controls and the District has a policy against people collecting petition signatures on school property.
After the incident, the woman told the recall petitioner “that she hoped she got what she wanted” and the recall supporter started to videotape her again and the woman took a picture of the recall supporter.  The recall supporter then left the property.
On Nov. 15, papers were filed to begin collecting signatures to attempt a statewide recall of Gov. Scott Walker and a district level recall of several Republican Senators, including Sen. Van Wanggaard (R-Racine).
The woman called the School District and she was told to file a report. According to a story by the Racine Journal Times, someone shared a similar story with the Vicki McKenna show.

State Officials Say Holding Onto Signed Walker Recall Petitions Is Illegal

Local man says he's turning in the 150 signatures he collected saying that his plan to shred the ballots was wrong.

Posted by Denise Lockwood (Editor) , November 17, 2011 at 05:30 PM, originally published on the Caledonia Patch.

A group trying to sabotage efforts to recall Gov. Scott Walker sparked outrage from the Wisconsin Democratic Party. Officials with the Government Accountability Board also said collecting petitions and not turning them into the recall committees is illegal.
that a local man, who wished to remain anonymous, and at least two others, had collected signatures for the recall petition. In order to derail the recall effort, the unnamed source initially said he planned to shred them and then he said he was going to hold on to them; but now the source said he plans to turn them into the Government Accountability Board because he doesn’t think it’s the right thing to do to keep them.
But state officials said the petitions need to be turned into the appropriate recall committees, not the GAB, and the recall committee needs to collect and turn all of the petitions into the GAB all at the same time.
The man, who collected 150 signatures on Nov. 15, said he plans to turn them into the Government Accountability Board. One other person is also going to turn his in and they are going to convince a third person to do the same.
"It’s not the right thing to do, we should have known better," the unnamed source said. "The whole thing wasn’t our idea. It’s something we just stumbled on and we did it, 24 hours later we realized that it’s not a good thing to do. I’ve been thinking about it and it’s just not right. But when I think about what’s been going on all year with the protests, and what this has been doing to people, families, and friends…is making normal people do really stupid things and feel stupid things. And it’s crazy. It's absolutely crazy."
However, he told Patch that he was told there were over 1,000 people involved with the effort.
Reid Magney, public information officer with the Government Accountability Board, said the man’s actions could constitute fraud, but he does not have any specific evidence that the man had committed fraud.
"I don’t want to pass judgment on this man because I don’t know specifically what he has or hasn’t done," Magney said.
Magney offered the following advice to people who may believe they signed a petition that may not get turned in:
“If someone signed what they think is an illegitimate petition or one that was circulated by a person not on the up and up, that person can sign more than one petition,” Magney said. “There is no prohibition on signing more than once. It’s up to the recall committee to weed out possible duplicates.”
Magney added that he has had discussions with district attorney’s about the issues, but he couldn’t comment on which district attorney’s he has talked to.
“We take this very seriously,” Magney said. “We hope that local law enforcement officials will have the time to prosecute these cases if it becomes an issue.”
Graeme Zielinski, spokesman for the Wisconsin Democratic Party, said people who don’t want to see Gov. Scott Walker recalled trying to sabotage the petition process are committing a felony.
“There is no gray area here,” Zielinski said. “What they are doing is highly illegal.”
Zielinski said the issue isn’t in the destruction of the petitions, but rather it’s the creation of doubt and fear.
“They want legitimate circulators to be turned away,” he said. “But we think this involves a very small number of people…. Our message to the public is: don’t let this intimidate you. You can sign a petition more than once if you think you have signed a petition that someone may have destroyed, and you aren’t violating the law.”
Zielinski called for the Wisconsin Department of Justice to look into the group collecting these signatures with the intent of either destroying them or holding onto them.
“If these folks have ties to the Republican or TEA party, they need to look at themselves at the top,” Zielinski said.
However, Bill Folk, chairman of the Racine County Republican Party and Lora Halberstadt, of the Racine TEA Party, have denounced the man's actions and both said they don't condone interfering in the petition process.
*This version of the story corrects and clarifies Reid Magney's statements about how petitions need to be turned by the recall committees into state officials, that his staff have spoken directly to several district attorney's offices, and that while the man's actions could constitute fraud, he had no evidence of wrongdoing