While Democrats believe recall elections for Governor Scott Walker, Lieutenant Governor Rebecca Kleefisch, and four Republican state senators are imminent, organizers are preparing for possible legal battles.
Earlier this week, recall groups turned in 1.9 million signatures to recall Walker and other Republicans from office. Only 540,208 signatures are needed to trigger a recall election against Walker, while organizers say more than one million were delivered to state election officials.
Despite the inevitability Democrats claim is behind their effort, attorney Jeremy Levinson say he is preparing for possible legal battles. Just what those challenges might be remains unknown though. Levinson says he expects the Walker campaign will “cook up all sorts of new-fangled legal theories about why this should be thrown out.”
The Government Accountability Board is already looking for duplicate or fake signatures, although the campaigns can also challenge any they suspect are not legitimate. Levinson admits a few problems may have “fallen through the cracks,” but nothing that will come close to compromising the hundreds of thousands of signatures necessary for a recall.
Levinson believes some Walker supporters could also step forward with claims their names were added to petitions without their knowledge. However, he also doubts those cases will be enough to stop an election.
The GAB is currently reviewing the petitions in a process that’s expected to take at least two months. The agency is planning to ask a judge to grant them more time.
AUDIO: Andrew Beckett reports (1:17)
