Organizers in the effort to recall Gov. Scott Walker and four Republican State Senators delivered an estimated 1.9 million signatures in the most participated-in recall effort in American history. But several significant issues must be resolved before recall elections actually occur.
Earlier this month, the Government Accountability Board, the group responsible for overseeing elections, announced it would need more than 60 days to officially declare recall elections.
But there is some concern about the integrity of the signature review process and challenges to the GAB that could further delay any official announcement.
UW-Madison Professor Dennis L. Dresang said Republican challenges to signatures "are not substantive" since organizers gathered close to double the 540,208 valid signatures needed to force a Walker recall election.
But state Sen. Pam Galloway, R-Wausau, one of the four being targeted for recall, vows to make sure her recall is legitimate. Organizers gathered an estimated 21,000 signatures, but only need 15,647 to force an election.
"Over the next few days, my campaign will review each and every signature to make certain that they are valid and documented in accordance with state law," Galloway said in a Jan. 17th statement.
Additionally, there are currently three lawsuits challenging the constitutionality of the Voter ID law and multiple lawsuits involving the new voting districts. When these decisions are made and what the rulings are could significantly influence recall elections.
Dresang said Republican defendants in the lawsuits have no interest in resolving either of the suits quickly and will "use all the legal maneuvers that they learned in the first year of law school to delay things."
There is no particular time frame for either of the issues.
The GAB will take longer to confirm the gubernatorial and lieutenant gubernatorial recalls than recalls for the state Senators. Dresang said it is significant whether or not the four Senate recalls will be delayed and held at the same time as the others.
"If we separate the senate race from the governor and lieutenant governor race, conceivably the Democrats are going to take over the state senate," Dresang said.
According to Dresang, this could "put the breaks" on legislation currently favored by the Republican majority.
Republicans argue holding recall elections separately would cost more than holding the elections at the same time. It is estimated the recall elections will cost $9 million in total.
While it's difficult to say when the elections will occur, many predict they will take place this summer.
