Thursday, March 28, 2013
Friday is the last day for residents to vote early in person for Tuesday's election and clerks' offices across the state, including Caledonia, are required to be open.
With the spring election on Tuesday, muncipal clerks' offices across the state - including Caledonia - are required to be open on Good Friday. The clerk’s office at Caledonia will be open for in-person absentee voting and other election details that day. Friday is the deadline for in-person voting. You may also cast an absentee ballot by mail, but it must be postmarked no later than Tuesday. Here is more information on voting early in Wisconsin. "The absentee voting statutes provide no exemption from or postponement for deadlines occurring on the Thursday or Friday before the Spring Election, regardless of their relationship to religious observances that are not recognized as state holidays," Wisconsin Government Accountability Board …
Friday, September 14, 2012
Estimates in February put the cost of recall upwards of $17 million. The real figures are closer to $13 million, which is still a big chunk of change.
The Government Accountability Board issued a press release Friday saying the 2012 recall elections cost taxpayers more than $13 million. Specifically, the statement says the May recall primary ran up a bill of $6.3 million. That figure includes: The June recall general election cost more, coming in at $7.2 million. This amount also accounts for a variety of functions: “Instead of conducting two primaries and two elections this year, Wisconsin election officials will be conducting six elections, which added approximately $13.5 million in unbudgeted costs,” said Kevin Kennedy, director and general counsel of the GAB in the statement. “These unplanned elections also put significant stress on Wisconsin’s clerks, who have many other duties …
Friday, July 13, 2012
On the same day the Racine County District Attorney's Office determined it didn't have enough for criminal prosecutions stemming from voter irregularities, the state Government Accountability Board responded to Assembly Republicans about many of the same
No criminal charges will be filed in connection with alleged voting irregularities in the June 5 recall election, the Racine County District Attorney's Office said Friday. District Attorney Rich Chiapete said his office received four separate complaints and while a complete investigation into the allegations was conducted, the information "did not rise to the level required for a criminal prosecution." Instead, what was described as fraud can more accurately be described as rule violations and as such, falls under the jurisdiction of the state Government Accountability Board, he said. "Many of the concerns raised are issues more appropriately dealt with by the GAB and through subsequent action by the legislature," Chiapete wrote in the …
Wednesday, July 11, 2012
A half-dozen Republicans called the 21st District Senate race a "wake-up call to the state" in a letter to the Government Accountability Board.
Republican Legislature leadership on Wednesday requested the Government Accountability Board examine and resolve alleged irregularities at the polls that came to light in the District 21 recall race. Half a dozen Republicans including Rep. Robin Vos and Assembly Speaker Jeff Fitzgerald signed a letter to GAB director Kevin Kennedy asking him to detail his specific plans to "restore the trust in our election process." "The situation in the 21 Senate District is a wake-up call to the state," the Republicans wrote. "We have laws in the books that are not being followed and a recall election that made a mockery of our election system." Reid Magney, spokesman for the GAB, said the agency just received the letter and will develop a timely …
Tuesday, June 19, 2012
Last week Van Wanggaard filed a petition with the Government Accountability Board seeking a recount of the hotly contested 21st Senate race and that recount is set to begin Wednesday morning.
The recount of the 71,868 votes cast in the 21st Senate recall election between Senator-elect John Lehman and Van Wanggaard is expected to begin at 9 a.m. tomorrow at the Racine County Courthouse. Wanggaard, who lost to Democrat John Lehman in his bid to keep the 21st District seat on June 5, filed a petition Friday with the Government Accountability Board asking for a recount. Wanggaard lost to Lehman on June 5 by 834 votes — with Lehman receiving 36,351 votes and Wanggaard getting 35,517 votes. Racine County Clerk Wendy Christensen said the recount would likely take at least eight days because it took that amount of time to recount the ballots for the State Supreme Court race this spring. “The judicial recount (in April) took eight days…
Woman wearing a "Recall Walker" button ends up getting into a confrontation with an Illinois county clerk who was a poll observer during the June 5 election.
A complaint has been filed against the county clerk in Lake County, IL, for allegedly intimidating a Racine woman who wore a "Recall Walker" button to the polls on election day. Nicala Aiello filed a complaint against Lake County Clerk Willard Helander with the Wisconsin Government Accountability Board stemming from her activity during the June 5 recall election, according to the Chicago Tribune and in Deerfield (IL) Patch. Helander was among a number of Illinois Republicans who worked as poll observers in Racine. According to the Chicago Tribune story: Aiello maintains that after she entered a polling site, a woman addressed her from across the room and ordered her to remove a "Recall Walker" button on her shirt. Aiello claims Helander …
Wednesday, May 2, 2012
The state Democratic party says Gov. Walker's involvement, or lack thereof, in the John Doe investigation doesn't meet statutory reasons for establishing a criminal defense fund.
During a conference call today with reporters, state Democratic Chair Mike Tate said he is calling on the Government Accountability Board to look more closely at why Gov. Scott Walker needs a criminal defense fund. Tate cited a state statute that outlines the reasons for a government official or their agent to establish a criminal defense fund: by either being a target of an investigation or pending being charged with a crime. Tate said Walker doesn't meet those benchmarks, based on the governor's own statements. "First he said he hadn't been contacted about the investigation," he said. "Then he's saying he was contacted and is cooperating." The question becomes, Tate continued, whether or not Walker is lying about the corruption probe or …
Tuesday, April 17, 2012
The Government Accountability Board rejected a challenge filed last week by the attorney for the Democratic Party of Wisconsin.
All candidates, including those dubbed “fake” or "protest” candidates, will be allowed a spot on the recall election ballots next month. The Government Accountability Board determined Tuesday that six Republicans running as Democrats in an effort to set up elections on the same day throughout the state, are eligible for the ballot, unanimously rejecting a challenge filed by the Democratic Party of Wisconsin. The Board rejected the challenge 6-0, leaving in place a list of candidates who will appear on the May 8 primary ballots. In a statement on the Republican Party of Wisconsin's website, Communications Director Ben Sparks said: "We're pleased with today's certification that all protest candidates will appear on the May 8 primary ballot. …
Friday, March 30, 2012
A year after Gov. Scott Walker's budget repair bill became law, recall petitioners have successfully triggered a recall election of Gov. Scott Walker and Lt. Gov. Rebecca Kleefisch.
Enough petition signatures have been verified to trigger a recall of Gov. Scott Walker and Lt. Gov. Rebecca Kleefisch, state election officials decided Monday. The state Government Accountability Board voted 5-0 to order the recall election. If a primary election is needed, it will be held May 8. The general election date will be June 5. This is the first time in Wisconsin history a governor is up for a recall election. According to the Chicago Sun-Times, there have only been two successful gubernatorial recalls in U.S. history — against California Gov. Gray Davis in 2003 and North Dakota Gov. Lynn Frazier in 1921. Of the 931,053 signatures submitted for the Walker recall, the GAB staff found 900,938 valid signatures. And of 842,854 …
Monday, March 12, 2012
The Government Accountablity Board says recalls against four Republican senators can move forward; 25,495 of the roughly 931,000 Gov. Walker recall petition signatures — not 1 million — have been struck.
Election officials are homing in on an early June general election for Wisconsin’s next wave of recall votes. The state Government Accountability Board, the non-partisan agency that oversees elections, met Monday to discuss recall petitions against four Republican state senators, but also to settle issues surrounding recall efforts against Gov. Scott Walker and Lt. Gov. Rebecca Kleefisch. While the dates aren’t definitive, the GAB is eyeing a June 5 general election date, with primaries on May 8. The board won't formally approve the dates until petitions against Walker and Kleefisch are verified, as it wants to schedule all summer recalls for the same day. However, the dates still require the approval of a Dane County judge before moving …
Steve ®
9:28 pm on Monday, September 17, 2012
I take that as you didn't write the check to support the WDR in a "cause" you feel justified. We will continue to make cuts to the public workforce and you are directly responsible for their loss of employment. more ›