Gov. Walker Wants Outside Groups With History of Voter Suppression to Challenge Recall Petition Signatures

MADISON, Wis. — Gov. Scott Walker’s campaign raised over $8 million from a cross-country cash grab, over 60% of it from out-of-state donors and much of it from mega-contributors giving up to $250,000 at a time. But his campaign is asking that, instead of offering their own challenges, allegations of improper signatures on recall petitions from an alliance of Texas and Wisconsin fringe political groups accused of voter suppression activities be considered by the Government Accountability Board (GAB).

One Wisconsin Now Deputy Director Mike Browne commented, “Gov. Walker had plenty of time to fly around the country raising millions from out-of-state special interests and the super-wealthy. He even went to court and was granted three more weeks to review recall signatures.”

He continued, “But instead of offering his own challenges to recall signatures, he wants that outside groups with shady histories of voter suppression to do his dirty work.”

One Wisconsin Now detailed a 2010 “voter caging” scheme between the Grandsons of Liberty, the Republican Party of Wisconsin, headed by then-chair Reince Priebus and the Americans for Prosperity, then-run by Mark Block, in September 2010. Voter caging is a notorious voter suppression technique used to challenge the registration status of eligible voters to prevent him or her from voting in an election.

After initial denials, all the groups admitted their involvement. More information about the 2010 plot, including audio recordings, transcripts and documents, is available at www.SaveWisconsinsVote2010.org.

Wisconsin Tea Partier’s Texas-based partner, True the Vote, is also no stranger to voter suppression controversy. Activities by their associated organization, the King Street Patriots, were reported to have triggered Election Day monitoring by federal Department of Justice officials and have they are the subject of legal action for alleged voter suppression. A Texas based nonpartisan watchdog group has also lodged ethics complaints alleging illegal fundraising and coordination with a county Republican Party organization against them.

Browne concluded, “This unholy alliance of anti-voting rights fringe groups from Texas and Wisconsin, with their sordid histories of meddling in elections and voter suppression plots, ought not be allowed anywhere near the recall signature verification process.”