An online database of recall petitions is seeing some major traffic, slowing down efforts by a Tea Party coalition hoping to uncover potentially fraudulent signatures.
Verify the Recall posted a searchable database online Wednesday. It allows people to look for signatures on recall petitions against the governor and four Republican state senators. The group’s Ross Brown says the response has been huge, with over 50,000 unique visitors coming to the site in just the first hour.
With hundreds of thousands of people still trying to access the database, Brown says the service has been very slow. Many visitors are facing long load times or searches that time out. Brown says they are working to raise at least $4,500 so they can add more server capacity to speed up searches.
For those who have been able to access the database, Brown says a wide range of search terms can be used to locate a signature. First and last names, street addresses, or even just a zip code can be entered to locate whole groups of people who have signed. The page includes a link to view the actual petition page a name appears on, along with an option to flag a signature that may be fraudulent.
Brown says those who believe their names were added to a petition by someone else will be able to fill out an affidavit. Those will be turned in to the state Government Accountability Board, along with the group’s own review and findings on the petitions.
AUDIO: Andrew Beckett reports (1:03)