Earlier this week, state Sen. Glenn Grothman, R-West Bend, introduced legislation that would require recall petition circulators to have an affidavit to affirm the legitimacy of the signatures they gathered.
Under current law, circulators have to sign the bottom of each petition sheet, state their residence, affirm the authenticity of the signatures and verify that they personally obtained them.
The bill would require the signature be “acknowledged by an officer who is authorized to administer oaths affirming the circulator’s identity and stating that the circulator appeared before the officer and executed the statement in the officer’s presence.”
But opponents say the bill is just an attempt to make getting signatures for the recall more difficult.
In an e-mail sent to legislators, Grothman said the bill “will simply add an objective element to the current system of self-certification in which a circulator approves the honesty of his or her own efforts.”
Grothman said it “will ensure the integrity of signature collection efforts via third party accountability.”
Erik Kirkstein, the State Communications Coordinator for United Wisconsin Political Action Committee, the group leading the recall effort, was not surprised by the proposal from Grothman.
“The Republicans are doing everything they can to defend the failed policies of Scott Walker.” Kirkstein said in an e-mail. “In no way will the attempts of Walker and his allies to obstruct this democratic process deter the people of Wisconsin from bringing about a recall of Walker and Kleefisch.”
This is the second go-around for the measure, which was originally introduced by Grothman, state Sen. Lazich, R-New Berlin, and state Sen. Leibham, R-Sheboygan. It did not get past committee after Leibham withdrew as a co-author.
